A Country Bears Christmas
by Fenix Uzumaki
Summary: Set in the KotS timeline, but in an AU. The Bears and friends are finally able to celebrate a Christmas together, but of course, trouble is on the horizon when five-year-old Jordan decides to play with matches...
1. Prologue

**disclaimer: I do not own the country bears [as much as I wish I did] but I do own the characters that were not in the movie [with exceptions to Jade and Ray Falco, who belong to my friend. I have permission to use them]**

**Summary:** _Set in the KotS timeline, but in an alternate universe. The Bears and friends are finally able to celebrate a Christmas together, but of course, trouble is on the horizon. When an accidental fire almost destroys the Hall, Beary and Jewel set out on a mission to get a new tree [they're old one being destroyed in the fire]. However, neither of them know about the blizzard that's on the way..._

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><p><span>A Country Bear's Christmas<span>

"B-B-Beary, w-we h-h-have…t-to t-t-turn b-ba-back!" Jewel yelled, her voice being carried away by the fierce, biting wind that tangled her fur.

Beary tightly clutched her paw, afraid to let go in case Jewel became lost in the freak blizzard. He knew that she wanted to go home, but how was he going to tell her that they were lost?

The snow continued to fall at a rapid pace, sticking to their fur and clumping it together. The snow was as high as their knees, and was still falling. It had started falling only about an hour ago, but the amount that had been dumped on them was ridiculous. It had never snowed this much before! The two twelve-year-olds' unprotected paws and feet were practically numb at this point.

A sudden pull at his arm jerked him backwards. Beary turned and found Jewel had collapsed. "Jewel!" he cried, immediately lifting her out of the snow. He could feel her shaking in his arms, and knew that with her thin fur, she would succumb to frostbite or hypothermia faster than he would. "Shh…" he whispered, caressing her cheek, trying to soften her whimpers.

He looked around, knowing that they had to find shelter as soon as possible.

How had it come to this?

As he trudged through the snow, not able to see where he was going, he thought back to what had happened only hours before…

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><p><strong>Well, there's the beginning! short, I know, but... .;;<strong>

**Review, please!**


	2. Part One

**disclaimer: I do not own the country bears [as much as I wish I did] but I do own the characters that were not in the movie [with exceptions to Jade and Ray Falco, who belong to my friend. I have permission to use them]**

**Summary:** _Set in the KotS timeline, but in an alternate universe. The Bears and friends are finally able to celebrate a Christmas together, but of course, trouble is on the horizon. When an accidental fire almost destroys the Hall, Beary and Jewel set out on a mission to get a new tree [they're old one being destroyed in the fire]. However, neither of them know about the blizzard that's on the way..._

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><p><strong><span>Part One<span>**

**Six hours earlier…**

"Ha! Nailed ya!" Jewel grinned, laughing at her best friend. She wore jeans and a long trench coat.

Beary wiped the snow out of his face and growled playfully. "I'm gonna get you for that, Jewel!" he cried, making a snowball. He wore an outfit similar to hers, only the coat was much longer.

"Gonna have to catch me first, aren't ya." She smirked and took off running.

The light brown cub laughed and gave chase, having the snowball ready for throwing. It was only moments later that his legs gave out under him and he went sliding at a rapid pace towards the fleeing she-cub. "Jewel! Watch out!" he shouted.

Jewel, of course, stopped and turned to look at what all the trouble was. Her eyes widened and she let out a startled shout as he plowed into her, causing her to fall on top of him. They continued sliding down the icy patch alongside the hall before crashing into a snow pile.

Loud laughter filled the air.

The two twelve-year-olds sat up, shivering from the cold snow, and looked around at the laughing adults sheepishly.

"Are you okay, Beary?" Henry chuckled, wandering over to help his son.

At the same time, Zeb wandered over, asking the same question, except to Jewel. "Hey there, lil Trix. Took a tumble, didn't ya?" he grinned, holding out his paw.

Jewel smirked and let him help her up. "Very funny, Uncle Zeb. We all know what happened…" She gave Beary a playful glare.

"Hey! I didn't see the ice patch!" the male cub complained, crossing his arms after his father helped him up. "Not my fault…"

"You're so cute when you pout, C-Bear," the she-cub commented, earning a deep, crimson blush on her boyfriend's face. Yes, at twelve-years-old, the duo was in a happy relationship. One would think that at that age, the youngsters would be too naïve and immature to handle a serious relationship, but the two cubs seemed to be doing a pretty good job at it. They had only gone as far as sharing a few kisses every now and then—Beary had learned his lesson when Tennessee had caught them making out at his and Trixie's wedding back in September—but they were content.

Beary's blush deepened when Jewel leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. That embarrassment turned to horror when she shoved snow down his ear and took off running. With a playful growl, he gave chase.

Zeb looked at his fellow adult and couldn't help but burst into loud laughter. "They're nuts!"

Henry joined in his friend's laughter. "Yes. Yes, they are."

The auburn bear pulled out his camera and started taking pictures. "Tennessee and Trixie don't know what they're missin'." He glanced at Henry. "I can't believe those series of storms that trapped them in Alaska… They've been there for three months, now! They were only supposed to stay two!"

"It is unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do about it," Henry said sadly. The storms the two adults were talking about were actually a series of freak blizzards that had grounded all aircraft in Alaska, making it impossible for the newlyweds to get home. They had lost contact with the couple about two weeks ago.

"It's so unfair. This is the twelfth? Thirteenth? Christmas they've missed with their daughter…"

"I know."

A sudden loud honking drew the duo's attention to the bridge that ran over the frozen creek. Fred and Ted were back with the tree. Behind them were two more vehicles, a red van and a black Ford F-150.

Beary and Jewel stood up—when Henry and Zeb's attention had drifted away from the cubs, Jewel had tackled Beary into one of the larger snowdrifts and kissed him a couple times—and grinned broadly. They weren't looking at the SUV with the tree, but at the two cars that followed. The two cars contained their adoptive families that they had grown up with: The Stones were in the truck, and the Barringtons were in the red van. Both cubs practically bounced towards the "parking lot", both eager to see their families.

The three cars parked side by side and their engines shut down simultaneously. Four humans exited the red van, causing Beary to let out an excited shout as he ran towards them.

"Mom! Dad!" he called, immediately wrapping his arms around them as they met in front of the car.

Both Barrington parents immediately returned the loving gesture, embracing their bear cub. "Mmm… Beary. I missed you," Allison smiled, kissing his forehead.

"Mom, I've only been gone a day," Beary laughed, however, he didn't pull away. He enjoyed the hug immensely. "I missed you, too."

"How you doing, kiddo?" Norbert asked, grinning. "Keeping out of trouble?"

"I always stay out of trouble, Dad. You know that," the cub pouted.

Norbert ruffled his adopted son's hair. "I know. Lol."

Beary blinked. "Did… Did you just say "lol"?"

The human nodded. "Yeah, 'lots of love', right?"

The cub facepalmed. "It means "laugh out loud"…"

"Oh."

"Geez, Dad. Even I could have told you that," Dex snickered as he got out of the van. He held out his hand towards his girlfriend. "Oh, come on, Roxi. It's not that cold."

"Yes, it is. I'd rather stay in the nice warm car," Roxanne Starr Matthews complained.

"It's not going to be warm forever. You might as well as get out, then come into the warm, toasty Hall with me."

"Damn you and your logic."

Dex grinned and helped her out of the car. "Be nice. There are cubs around."

"Blegh! Cubs. Always ruining our fun," Roxi smirked, looking over at Beary.

Beary immediately pouted and stuck his tongue out at the human. Moments later, he wrapped his arms around his older brother and his girlfriend, both of them returning the embrace.

"I swear, Beary. You've gotten taller. Not cool, bro. Not cool."

"Just because you're short…" Beary quickly ducked away from Dex before he could catch him in a headlock.

Meanwhile, over at the truck, Tasha and James were immediately glomped—tackled and hugged—by the golden she-cub. Both adults were laughing as they returned the hug. "How you doing, sweetheart?" Tasha asked, kissing her "daughter's" forehead.

"Well, I've been tackling Beary, shoving snow in his ear, embarrassing him… and that's all within the last five minutes," Jewel smirked evilly.

"I have taught you well, young one…" a new voice said.

Both Jewel and Beary—who had wandered over—looked up in surprise. They both recognized that voice. "Jade?" they asked at the same time.

Jade Falco, a purple haired, purple eyed, black furred young bear in her thirties. Her fur was thick, lush, and rather soft. She wore just an Asylum sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. Her smile was wide and her eyes sparkled as her sight fell upon the two cubs. "Merry Christmas, Beary and Jewel," she grinned, holding out her arms.

As one, the two cubs ran towards the she-bear and wrapped their arms around her. "You're back!" Jewel shrieked at the same time Beary questioned, "Get me anything?"

Both female bears gave him a small glare, at which he gave an innocent smile.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Of course I got you guys something. You're just gonna have to wait until tomorrow morning to get it." She gave them an evil smirk.

"Awww, but Jade!" both cubs gave her a pouty face.

"None of that, or you get nothing."

"Meh! Evil bear!" Beary grinned before ducking away, not letting her smack him upside the head. He turned his head just in time to see Ted walk unknowingly towards an ice patch… But before he could call out to warn him, Ted had already slipped on the ice, yelling and hollering.

One moment Ted had been standing upright, moving over to the other side of the car to help his brother unload the tree, and the next, he was on his back, sliding between the truck and his car. "GAAHHH!" he shouted as he crashed into a rather tall, muscular, dark brown bear. He wore a pair of jeans and a blue plaid shirt. He looked down at the lead singer with a surprised, and slightly annoyed look.

"What… are you doing…?" the strange new bear questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… I…" Ted gulped.

The bear raised a paw threateningly…

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><p><strong>Yes, I'm being mean with the cliffhanger, but I wanted to get SOMETHING out on Christmas. lol<strong>


	3. Part Two

**disclaimer: I do not own the country bears [as much as I wish I did] but I do own the characters that were not in the movie [with exceptions to Jade and Ray Falco, who belong to my friend. I have permission to use them]**

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><p><strong><span>Part Two<span>**

The bear raised a paw threateningly, before leaning over and helping Ted stand.

Ted only reached the other bear's chin in height, leaving him feel rather… smallish, though he would never admit it out loud. "Uh… hi…"

The larger bear looked at the shorter one, then glanced over at the purple haired she-bear and noticed the paw-on-the-hip stance she was giving him and his look somewhat softened. "Best get to doing that tree before it freezes to the top of your car."

Ted blinked a couple of times, rather shocked. He was positive he was going to be pummeled into the ground. "Uh… Thanks." He slowly turned and began helping Fred with the tree.

"You… Are a lucky bear, Ted," Fred whispered when the bigger bear walked around to the other side of the truck.

"Yeah. That guy could've taken you out with one blow!" Zeb snickered as he wandered over and stood next to Ted.

"Oh, shut up. He wasn't that big."

"Are you kiddin'? He was **_huge_**!"

Fred nodded in agreement. As soon as they got the tree down, they headed towards the Hall with the humans and the Stones. Only Henry remained outside with Jade, the mysterious brown bear, and the cubs.

Meanwhile, back over with Jade and the twelve-year-olds, Jade looked at the older brown bear. "Dad, I want you to meet Beary and Jewel." She then looked at the two cubs. "This is Sergeant Raymond Falco," she said proudly.

Beary and Jewel glanced at each other for a moment, then at the brown bear. "Wait. You're her dad?" Beary questioned, surprised. "You're not old…"

"Yeah… Jade said you were ancient!" Jewel whispered.

"I did not!" Jade complained.

"Yes, you did!" Beary went on. "You said he was old and fat!" He had a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

Ray raised an eyebrow and looked at his daughter in amusement. "You did, did you?"

"What? No, I didn't!"

"Why, yes. Yes, you did," Beary continued, in his best British accent. Why he was doing that, only he knew.

"Why, you little monster!"

Beary gave a little shriek and took off at a rapid sprint.

Jewel shook her head and watched in amusement. "He's insane…"

Ray just gave a small chuckle. "So you're Jewel. That little cub, Jordan, was talking about you the entire trip here."

"That's Jordy for you. Always talking."

"Sergeant Ray Falco…" Henry finally spoke up. "Been a long time, hasn't it…"

Ray blinked and looked over at the pepper furred bear questioningly. "Um… Do I know you?"

"You used to… Think back to the Vietnam War… A young, cheeky brown bear… Saved your butt before it could get blown up in a mine field… Among other rescues… Henry Dixon Taylor…"

Ray's eyes widened slightly. "It can't be… Damn, you've gotten _old_."

"I have not. You're still older than me."

"You've aged horribly, is what I meant."

Jewel looked between the two adults in confusion.

"Gee, thanks…"

There was silence for a few minutes, as the trio watched Jade chase Beary around the yard, before Henry spoke again.

"So… Jade's all grown up now, eh? Last time I saw her, she was just a little thing…" he said softly.

Ray's eyes suddenly hardened at the memory of the last time he and Henry had seen each other, which was over thirty years ago. They had fought over something at his house, and then Henry and Helen had packed up and went back to their home in Tennessee.

Speaking of Helen…

"Henry, where's Helen?" The Army sergeant was definitely surprised that the pretty she-bear wasn't around. He knew that she and Henry were inseparable.

Jewel's eyes widened. She couldn't believe the sergeant had just asked that.

Henry's eyes widened as well, before narrowing. He looked like he was about to say something, before turning around and walking away. He didn't go towards the Hall, but towards the trees, his paws in his coat pockets.

The brown bear blinked, wondering what he had said wrong. He glanced at Jewel, then over at Jade and Beary, who had stopped running. He watched as Beary raced away from Jade and went over to Henry. "What did I say?"

Jewel glanced up at him sadly. "It's not my place to say." She quickly hurried off.

Jade wandered back over to her father, definitely confused. "What did you say to him?" She glanced at Beary, wondering just what Beary was doing with the older male.

Ray shrugged. "I guess we go inside…?" It had been years since he had been to this place, and needless to say, he was amazed at how good it looked. It had literally been a dump when he first saw it, all those years ago. Henry and Helen had done one hell of a job fixing the old place up. **_And_** they had managed a band for several years before the band broke up. What was the name again? Funky Bears? Junky Bears? Bad Ears? He shook his head.

Jade shrugged as well and followed Jewel inside, her father not far behind her.

Meanwhile, with Beary and Henry… Father and son walked silently through the snowy trees that were to the left of the Hall. Beary wondered what was troubling his father so much, and who that other bear was, not to mention what they were talking about.

"Uh… Dad? What's wrong?"

Henry blinked and jumped. He looked at his son in surprise, just realizing he was there. "Beary…"

The cub looked at him curiously, waiting for his answer. "Who was that guy, anyway? I mean, I know he's Jade's dad, but…"

"He's… an old friend," the elder bear said softly.

"Okay… what did he want?"

Henry thought for a moment, wondering what he should say. He finally sighed. "He… He wanted to know… where your mother was…" Henry refused to look at him as he said this.

"She went insi—oh…" Beary fell silent when he realized that Henry was talking about his birth mother, not his adopted human mother. He barely remembered his birth mother, having only been three when she had been killed by a crazy maniac. That maniac had then gone after him eight years later, and nearly killed him. His time in the cellar still gave him nightmares.

They fell silent once again.

Henry glanced at his cub out of the corner of his eye. "You better head on inside and get warmed up." He gave a half-hearted chuckle and brushed the snow off his son's back. "You're covered in snow!"

Beary blinked at the sudden change in subject, before giving a small smile. "Only if you come in, too."

The father raised an eyebrow. "Are you blackmailing me?"

His son gave an innocent grin. "Me? Never."

Henry ruffled his cub's hair before sighing. "I… I just need some time by myself, kiddo."

The light brown cub frowned slightly and nodded. "Okay… But don't stay out too late, or I'll ground you."

The pepper furred bear raised an eyebrow and watched as the twelve-year-old ran off, a grin plastered on his face.

.~*~.

Ray looked around the hall, amused. Things were **_definitely_** a whole lot better than they had been last time he had been here. For one thing, there wasn't a giant hole in the ceiling. He looked at the stage, the loft, pretty much everywhere, with a small smile. Henry had done one hell of a job.

"So this is what those two are always talking about…" Jade muttered. "Doesn't seem like much…" She wasn't very impressed with everything.

Over by the tree, Ted was helping his brother put it in the stand. "C'mon Fred… it's not that hard to stick the trunk in the stand."

"Then **_you_** do it, if you think it's so easy," Fred grumbled, trying to position the darn thing correctly.

Ted rolled his eyes and peered around the tree to yell at his brother for being lazy. Just as he opened his mouth, he noticed a new bear in the building, a purpled haired, black furred she-bear, with the prettiest purple eyes he had ever seen.

"Okay, Ted, nice and ea—YOW!" Fred let out a startled shout as Ted dropped the tree on his brother's paw.

Ted hadn't noticed as he continued to stare at the she-bear, mesmerized by her beauty. He had never seen anyone like her before… He couldn't help but wonder what her name was.

That's when he saw **_him_**, the big brown bear that he had run into before, walking next to the she-bear and talking to her. Immediately, he looked away, a little upset. That was probably her husband, who would kick his ass if he tried talking to the she-bear. However… He looked back at her again.

"Ted!" Zeb exclaimed, lifting the tree off of Fred's paw. "Sorry, Fred."

Fred just groaned and held his aching paw. "What is your problem, Ted?" he questioned, before looking at his older brother. He blinked and looked in the direction that Ted was looking and smirked. "Hey, Zeb…"

"Hm?"

"I think Ted's in love."

The auburn bear's eyes widen to infinite proportions and he looked at the lead singer, who was drooling a little. He, too, smirked, and looked at the she-bear. Immediately, he knew why Ted was drooling over her. She was very pretty… '_Ted wouldn't have a chance with her. Me, on the other paw..._' He immediately started making plans on how to woo the she-bear.

.~*The Country Bears*~.

**Present time…**

Beary couldn't remember how much time had passed since Jewel had collapsed, and he had been forced to carry her through the snow. He was so cold and tired, not to mention hungry. He wanted to get into the snacks they had packed, but didn't dare set Jewel down.

He carried her piggy-back style, except she wasn't on his back but his front, her arms and legs wrapped around his body. He had his jacket open, allowing more of his body heat to warm her. He knew it wasn't doing her unprotected feet any good, but if he could keep her somewhat warm…

One moment, he had been walking in a white blur, and the next, he had run into some random tall object. "Oof!" He blinked and looked up. It was a tree. He looked to his left, then his right, and saw similar outlines of trees.

Trees meant shelter.

He silently thanked the Big Bear in the Sky for giving them something they desperately needed, and moved into the trees. After passing through the first row of trees, he realized that the snow wasn't falling as hard here, probably blocked by the dense canopy of tree branches. He could actually see pretty far ahead of him, and that's when his eyes fell upon what looked like a den made of brush and fallen tree branches. It did have some holes in it, but he was positive with some more branches it would be perfect.

Beary quickly made his way over to it, amazed that the snow wasn't nearly as deep as it was outside the trees. All the while, he was thanking the Big Bear in the Sky for their good luck. As soon as he reached the shelter, he set Jewel down and went inside the makeshift fort, pushing out some of the snow. He then pulled off his backpack and grabbed a blanket he had stuffed in there—"_Always be prepared_," his adopted parents had told him. He set the blanket on the somewhat snow-free ground, and then went back out for Jewel.

He picked up the she-cub, who was shaking in his arms, and carried her inside the shelter, gently laying her on the blanket. He then reached into his bag and pulled out the other blanket, setting the blanket on top of the bag, and looked at Jewel. He knew he should get the wet clothes off of her, but the thought made him blush furiously. He couldn't do that to her… it wouldn't be right. He couldn't look at her **_naked_**. Her clothes weren't that wet… right?

The thought terrified him.

"S-s-s-so… c-c-c-c-c-old…" Jewel's teeth chattered as she spoke. Her limbs were still shaking horribly, and he was afraid that she was going to chip a tooth with the way her teeth chattered.

Beary sighed, knowing that he had to do it. He quickly grabbed the other blanket and covered her with it. He hesitated slightly before reaching under the blanket, undoing her belt and button. He slowly pulled her jeans down and when they were off, he put them on top of a branch, letting them hang to "dry". He then proceeded to do the same with her coat and shirt, hanging them next to her pants. For added measure, he gently rubbed her feet to get the circulation moving again. Satisfied that she would do all right, he then wrapped the blanket a bit tighter around her and looked around. He had to fix the holes in the shelter, not to mention start some kind of fire… '_I'll just leave a single hole in the roof, that way the smoke can escape… It's too windy to build one outside…_' he thought to himself.

He looked around for the material's he needed before sighing. He would have to go find some sticks, but he didn't want to leave Jewel. He glanced back at her. "I'll be right back, Gem…" he whispered before moving out of the shelter and into the harsh wind.


	4. Part Three

Part Three

**_Present Time_**…

The harsh wind parted his fur and bit at his skin, causing him to tremble violently. He pulled his coat tighter around his small frame, trying to block the cold. His ears flat against his head as he pushed on through the snow. He tried to not think about the cold, but it was hard to do.

As he gathered the branches and whatnot, Beary couldn't feel his toes or his fingers, and it wasn't long before he fell against a tree, shaking violently. He just wanted to sleep. Already, he could feel his mind slipping away, but he somehow managed to hold onto one thought, and that was Jewel freezing to death.

Being careful to not drop anything, he forced himself to his feet and trudged on, hoping to find the shelter.

Little did he know that he was walking **_away_** from the shelter, not towards it.

.~*The Country Bears*~.

**_Six hours earlier…_**

Jade wandered about the Hall, curious about the place she had heard so much about from Beary and Jewel. Jewel tagged alone, eager to show off her weekend home. As soon as Beary returned inside, he had joined her and Jade; by the time, so had Ray.

None of them noticed the auburn bear that was following them, nor the black bear that watched them from the balcony.

Beary was explaining the one-string thang to Jade, with Jewel adding in a couple comments every so often.

"Okay, okay… but how can one string make music? Wouldn't it just be the same note over and over again?" Jade questioned, skeptical.

"No!" Jewel butted in. "It makes all sorts of sounds! It all depends on how it is played!"

Behind them, Ray smirked as he listened.

Zeb grinned a little as he let his presence known. "My ol' fiddle sounds purty good when she's played."

Both cubs blink and look behind them.

Jade smirked. "That's not what I heard. Heard you played rather rough at the bar."

"Well, I… I…"

Ray grinned, and the cubs laughed.

"Oh, she got you good," Beary chuckled.

Zeb was embarrassed as he shuffled his feet.

Jewel hugged her uncle. "Aww, don't be like that, Uncle Zeb."

"Hey, I'm all right, lil Trix," he smiled at her.

"Hey, back off my Gem," Beary playfully growled.

Jewel backed away from Zeb and gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Meh, I can be both," she teased.

Jade's paw hit her head, and Ray shook his head, muttering something about "damn cubs".

"Kids," Zeb complained, still smiling.

"I told Jade **_everything_** that happened during my little… er…" Beary broke off.

"Field trip that you took without me?" Jewel glared.

Beary scratched the back of his head. "Heh, heh… yeah…"

The she-cub rolled her eyes and looked at Zeb. "So, why're you following us?"

Jade, meanwhile, looked around and spotted the black bear up in the balcony. She could feel his gaze upon her. They locked eyes for a moment before she looked away quickly.

On the balcony, Ted watched with a slight smile as the she-bear turned away from him.

"Well, I… I… uh… saw this pretty sweet she-bear and, uh…" Zeb tried to explain.

Jade's eyes widened slightly—she had usually never gotten the attention because of her persona.

"Jade? Really?" Beary blinked and glanced at Jewel. "I thought…"

"Jade was interested in Ted?" Jewel finished.

The black she-bear's eyes widened. "Why you little…"

Both cubs squealed and ran off, Jade chasing them.

Ray's eyes narrow and he glares at Zeb as he crosses his arms. "Oh, really… Just how are you going to take care of her?"

"Well, I… Uh, I'd make sure she…"

The army sergeant waited, tapping his foot impatiently.

Up in the balcony, Ted thought over what Beary and Jewel had said. _Did Jade really like him? Why would she like him when she already had a big, strapping, handsome mate? _So preoccupied with his thoughts, he never heard the questions Ray was asking Zeb.

"And, ya see, I'd…" Once again, the fiddler shuffled his feet and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Mhm…" It was obvious that the sergeant was not impressed, **_but_** he did want Jade to have some fun over Christmas break, so he smirks evilly as he turns and walks away.

Zeb let out the breath he wasn't aware he had been holding. "Well… That was fun."

Ted was still thinking about Jade as he watched her chase Beary and Jewel around the Hall.

Jade chased the two misfits up the stairs to the balcony, them laughing loudly, and she didn't even see the black bear.

Both cubs smirk and dodge around Ted; Beary grabbed Ted's arm and pulled him in the way of the oncoming Jade.

Not expecting this, the she-bear couldn't stop as she crashed into the adult male.

"You wanna watch where you're goin'?" Ted growled as he got up, not helping her.

Jade's eyes widened as she helped herself stand. "Watch where **_I'm _**going? You're one to talk, moving in front of me!"

"Hey, don't blame me just because you're clumsy."

"I'm clumsy? Look who's talking!" she growled.

"**_You_** ran into **_me_**!"

"**_You_** stepped out in front of me!"

Beary and Jewel laughed as they watched them from the other end of the balcony.

Ted whipped around and stares at the cubs. "And just what are **_you_** laughin' at?"

Both cubs yelped and dashed off.

"Oh, don't going blaming a couple of **_cubs_** for **_your_** stupidity!"

"Oh, callin' me stupid, that's real nice coming from the one who ran into me!"

Jade growled again. "Just who do you think you are?"

Ray, along with most everyone else that was in the Hall—excluding Henry, Allison, Norbert, Dex, and Roxi [who were all outside, the humans talking about Dex and Roxi's engagement]—stood on the stage to watch the showdown between the black bears.

"I'm the bear that deserves an apology from the clumsy she-bear that ran into me!"

"I think not!"

"Oh, I think so! Take some responsibility for yourself!"

"Oh, I'm more responsible than you are! At least I don't spy on people! Yes, I saw you looking, you big oaf!"

"Why you!" Ted growled.

Jade smirked and began to stalk away. "Stubborn egotistical jackass."

"Stupid she-bear thinks she knows everythin'."

"**_What_** did you just say?" Jade snarled, whipping around.

"You heard me!"

"Warum du dumme Hurensohn!" she growled in German.

"That's cheatin'! Speak English, damn it!"

Once again, she muttered something in German.

Beary and Jewel finally came closer to the adult bears. "Hey, Ted? Jade?" Jewel questioned, grinning.

Jade glanced at them. "What?" Ted asked.

Beary pointed to an object that was hanging above the arguing bears. "Not gonna break tradition, are ya?"

"Oh, they can't do that… They would have bad luck forever!" Jewel grinned, earning a snicker from Beary.

"Oh, hell no!" Jade growled upon seeing the mistletoe.

"You've **_got_** to be kiddin'! Not gonna happen!"

"Nuh-uh!" Jade shook her head.

"But you **_have_** to! It's tradition!" Beary argued.

"Hey, you're the ones that chose to argue beneath mistletoe," Jewel pointed out, earning a couple snickers from the crowd on the stage.

Ted glared at the cubs. "You two planned this!"

Innocently, the cubs spoke. "Who? Us? We're completely innocent…"

"Not a chance in hell!" Jade groaned. "When I get ahold of you two…"

"I second that," Ted agreed.

"Nuh-uh. You have to kiss him first," Beary winked.

Jade grimaced.

Ted sighed and shrugged. "It'd shut them up…"

"No it wouldn't," Jade frowned. "They'd just keep teasing us about it."

"Never!" Beary grinned, fingering the camera in his pocket.

"Like we're goin' to trust you two?" Ted said sarcastically.

"Of course! We're cubs! What's not to trust?" Jewel asked.

"The fact that you two are at the head of any mischief goin' on around this place?" Ted questioned.

"Us? Aww, you know we would never!" Beary complained before muttering something about Big Al helping them sometimes.

Jade rolled her eyes and looked at Ted. "Well, since you won't do it, and I have to get going…" She grabbed the front of his sweater and pulled him close, her lips locking with his.

Beary pulled out his camera, snapped a picture, and ran off with Jewel, laughing.

Catcalls echoed across the Hall from the stage.

Ted stammered with his words, because his body is being flooding with all kinds of weird feelings that he doesn't know how to handle. "That…"

Jade had no idea what to say to him, shocked; there had been a spark between them. She just stared into his amber eyes, not blinking. She turns her head, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "Uh… I… I have to go." She turned the rest of the way and began to dash off, only to stop when he pulled her back into his arms.

"No, wait," Ted whispered, kissing her once again.

She immediately fell into it.

Beary and Jewel were on the stairs, laughing and taking more pictures.

"Hey! Save some for us!" Zeb called.

Ted was quite enjoying himself as he kisses her, sighing deeply as his arms wrap around her. He didn't hear the others laughing at him from onstage, too lost in his feelings.

Jade decided to be a smartass and she "accidently" steps on Ted's foot.

Ted yelped and growled. "Damn it, woman!"

"Happy time's over," she grinned, pulling away now that she was free.

On stage, Ray growled at the sight of his daughter kissing the older bear. "Yeah, Papa bear isn't enjoying this too much…"

"Evil person," Ted glared.

Beary was laughing too hard as he moved down the stairs, trying to get a better picture. So, of course, he didn't pay attention to the next step and went flaying, taking Jewel down with him as he tumbles down the stairs.

They lay stunned at the bottom of the steps.

"You two cubs okay?" Ray questioned, getting off the stage and moving closer.

Beary started laughing. "That was soooooooo worth it."

Jewel sat up and smacked his arm, only causing him to laugh harder as she growled. "Ow… Speak for yourself."

Jade looked over the railing at the two cubs. "Dorks."

Jewel smirked. "Of course. **_And_** we got an awesome picture of you and Ted. Muahahahaha."

Beary was still laughing.

"All of which will be destroyed!" Jade growled playfully.

Beary jumped up and took off, desperate to protect his camera and awesome pictures. "NEVER! MUAHAHAHAHA!" And, just like that, he was gone.

Jewel blinked and looked up at her friend. "Jade, did you give him Monster again?"

"Monster?" Ted questioned, curious.

"Not this time," Jade replied. "Though, I might need one soon."

"He was real thirty, so I gave him a drink… Didn't know it would make him like that," Zeb stated, scratching the back of his head.

Ted groaned. "Didn't we learn that lesson a long time ago?" He thought back to the last time the cub had had an energy drink.

"Guess I forgot…"

The black bear wiggled his foot, grimacing. "Damn it, that hurt…"

Jewel, shaking her head, groaned. "Ow… When I get ahold of him…"

Jade glanced at the male beside her. "Baby."

Ted just glared at her.

Onstage, Fred laughed. "Ahh, young love."

"FRED!" Ted shouted, running down the stairs and gave chase to his brother.

Zeb, meanwhile, walked up the stairs and approached Jade. "Uh… I was wonderin'… whether you'd like to… come out for a drink or somethin'?"

"Hm… I suppose. When and where?" Jade replied, watching the black bear still. The feeling of his lips upon hers was still fresh in his mind.

"Um… The Honey Bee? Next… uh… Thursday?"

"Sure. Nine o'clock, all right?"

He blinked, surprised that she had agreed to go with him.

Still dizzy, Jewel approached Ray. "Wanna continue the tour?"

"Why are all these bears hitting on my daughter?" Ray asked, glancing at her.

"Probably because she's the first she-bear they've seen apart from my mom, Aunt Tasha, and me." She grinned. "And they know I'm already taken."

"I am not amused by this… I'd rather her go out with that idiot," he motioned at Ted, "not a former drunk."

"But… Zeb's doing better…" She blinked. "Wait, how do you know about Zeb being a former drunk?"

"Doesn't matter to me… they are all waaaayyyy too old for her." He looked at her again.

"Hm… They are…" She glances around. "BEARY TAYLOR! STOP RUNNING AROUND!"

Beary had run onto the stage, and crashed into Ray, just mere moments after Jewel had yelled at him. "Hhihihihihihihihihihiiiiiiiii!"

"I follow music too, honey." Ray barely moved a muscle when the cub crashed into him. "And Jade doesn't even like country music. You know that."

Jewel watched Beary bounce around before shaking her head. "Hm… Good point." Her eyes widened. "You're a Bears fan, too? Awesome. And we know Jade's not. We had to introduce her to the band a loooonnnnggg time ago."

"And she still isn't a fan…"

"So! I'm hungry," Jade grinned, changing the subject.

Beary, meanwhile, found himself fascinated poking Ray's arm.

Jordan broke away from his parents and ran up to Jade, screaming about food. "FOOD!"

James grimaced. "Jade…"

Tasha started laughing. Erin cooed in her mother's arms, cause Tasha to grin. "Time for someone to have her food," the mother spoke up. "James! Your turn to feed!"

"Jordy! Wanna get food?" Jade grinned.

Jordan leapt into Jade's arms. "Yay!" He kissed her cheek.

Jade snuggled the cub. "I hope one day I have cubs just like you, little bear."

Zeb smiled. "You'd be a great mother."

"Wuv you, Aunty Jade!" Jordan giggled.

Jewel continued to shake her head as Beary went on poking Ray in the arm.

"Beary," Ray growled. "Zeb's calling you."

"LIES!" Beary shouted.

Zeb laughed. "Beary, I'd stop if I were you."

Jewel rolled her eyes. "Oh, Beary… Come on, we have stuff to do.

The hyperactive cub glanced at her for a moment, but he was having too much fun. "Nononononononononononononono."

"He just called you, go," Ray growled again, getting annoyed.

Henry wandered in just then, blinking as Fred narrowly misses running into him as Ted chases him. "What on earth…" He glanced at the stage and sighed. "Beary, leave Ray alone!"

Beary giggled insanely.

"Oh, good, the father's here," Ray sighed.

"Of course I'm here." Henry glared at Ray. "Beary, come here."

Hearing his father, Beary abandoned the army sergeant and tackled his father. "Hiya!"

"Oof!" Henry cried out as he went down. He was flat on his back, Beary sitting on top of him, speaking so fast that the elder bear couldn't understand a word his son was saying.

Jewel glanced at Ray. "Gonna help him?"

"Nope," Ray chuckled.

"Well… that's rude."

Jade laughed. "All right, let's get some food!"

"Sure," Zeb agreed.

Ted growled as he finally caught his brother and pinned Fred's arms behind his back. "HA! GOTCHA!" he shouted.

"Ah!" Fred struggled.

"Muahaha. You asked for it. Now! Let's settle upon an agreement! You and Zeb cook dinner for **_everyone_** and the rest of us sit back and laugh as you make a mess in the kitchen," Ted smirked.

"You're just jealous that I can cook," Fred countered.

"Hey! I can cook!"

"I've never made a mess… I'm just…" Zeb broke off.

"Clumsy?" Ted suggested.

Zeb didn't answer as he shuffled his feet. He had never been good in the kitchen. Quietly, he followed Fred into Henry's kitchen.

"Well, we are hungry, right, Jordy?" Jade asked, laughing.

Jordan nodded eagerly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" He blinked. "Ewin eat, too?"

Ted, offended by his brother's announcement that he couldn't cook, followed the duo. "I'll help, too."

At that moment, Beary passed out on top of his father, his legs remaining upon his father's belly, and his back on the ground as he snored loudly.

"Gah. Help!" Henry called out softly.

Jewel rolled her eyes and watched as her aunt stalked up towards Jade and Jordan; her uncle James was feeding Erin. She didn't pay much attention to them as she helped move Beary away from Henry…

.~*The Country Bears*~.

**_Present Time_**_…_

Where was it? Why hadn't he reached it yet? What was going on?

Beary was still shaking violently as he trudged along, the sticks now inside his jacket so that he could put his paws in his pockets. He couldn't even feel his feet anymore, and by that time, he collapsed, no longer having the strength to move.

_Beary…_

He heard a soft voice on the wind, but was convinced it was nothing. He reached out with one paw and tried to push himself up, only to fail. '_Jewel… I'm sorry…_'

_Beary… Get up…_

The young male slowly lifted his head and blinked when he spotted a soft golden light illuminating the figure of a floating light brown she-bear with a white face and forest green eyes. A pair of white wings poked out of her back and a smile graced her lips as she approached him. She wore a flowing white gown.

_Beary… You must return to Jewel… Do not give up._

"I-It's s-s-so c-co-cold…" he stammered.

_I know, baby, I know. That's why you must keep moving. If you stay still, you'll freeze to death, and then what will happen to Jewel? If you die, she will die._

"B-bu-but I… d-do-don't k-know the… the w-w-way…"

_I will lead you, but you must get back up!_

He wanted to laugh at her words. There was no way he could get up—he had already tried! "M-Mama…"

_Beary Henry Taylor, you get yourself up and get back to that girl! She _**needs**_ you!_

'_Jewel needs me…_' he silently reminded himself. '_I can't let her down… not when I got her into this mess…_' Gathering his strength, he slowly began to push himself up and carefully stood on wobbly legs. Immediately, he felt a paw upon his shoulder, steadying him. Gradually, he began walking.

It seemed to take ages to walk through the snow drifts, but with his ghostly mother's help, he managed to make it back to the shelter.

He fell to his knees outside the entrance, shaking again, and wanted to collapse in a heap, but was held up by Helen. Beary turned his head upwards and looked at his mother, blinking as her form became more solid and the glow disappeared. "M-Mama…?"

As Helen became more concrete in form, her wings disappeared and her feet touched the ground. Her white clothing changed into a long red overcoat with white fur trimming. Her long brunette hair flowed down to her waist in a braid and a smile graced her lips before she suddenly frowned and shivered. "Forgot how cold winter was. Brr…"

Beary's eyelids drooped as he shivered violently.

Helen kneeled beside him and rubbed his shoulders. "Don't give up, sweetheart."

A whimper from inside the shelter caused him to lift his head. "J-Jewel…" He crawled forward into the shelter and approached the trembling figure. He barely had any strength to move as he collapsed beside her, cold and exhausted.

"Beary!" Helen cried, getting down on her knees, wanting to help her cub.

"Helen, I'll take care of this," a voice behind her spoke up.

Helen glanced behind her and spotted a tall grizzly wearing a blue plaid shirt and jeans. He had a red scarf wrapped around his neck. His green eyes sparkled. "Ah, there you are, Jess," she smirked.

Jesse Falco grinned as he knelt beside the she-bear. "I'm more used to survival skills. I'll stay here and take care of them."

"Can't we just take them with us?"

"You know as well as I do that that is not our assignment, Helen," a feminine voice spoke up.

Helen smiled broadly at the voice of her friend, Cassandra "Cass" Falco, Jesse's mother. She turned and looked at the small black she-bear, who had short, black hair that was tied back in a ponytail and green eyes. She wore a pair of bell-bottom jeans, a red and green tie-dye shirt, and a suede vest.

"Cass!"

"Of course it's me, Helen. Who else did you expect?" The she-bear shivered slightly; like Helen, she had forgotten how cold winter could be. "Remember, we're supposed to bring our families back together, and having them come out and find these two is the only solution to the problem. Jess can stay here and watch over them until we get back."

Jesse nodded.

Helen glanced into the shelter, and then at her friend. "All right… But let's hurry, yes?"

Cass grinned. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

Jesse watched the two she-bears turn and leave, before he crawled into the shelter. "Now… Beary, is it?"

The young male nodded slowly, shaking like crazy.

"Here, let me start the fire for you." Jesse quickly maneuvered the young bear and grabbed the firewood from within Beary's jacket. He then cleared a space a little ways away from Beary and Jewel's feet, and Jewel's blanket, and began to set up the sticks. It wasn't long before he had a fire started.

Once done, he crawled out of the shelter and began patching the holes, leaving one for the smoke to escape through. After finishing, he went back into the makeshift tent and moved Beary closer to Jewel, making sure both cubs were under the blankets they had brought.

Beary scooted as close to Jewel's naked body as he could, desperate for warmth as he continued to shake.

Jesse watched them, not sure what to think, as they held onto each other. '_He did well in finding this place and getting his friend stripped and under the blankets. Now… Now we can only wait for the others to arrive._' He crossed his legs and tended the fire, watching to make sure no embers lit the blanket on fire. He could only hope that the other bears weren't too late.


	5. Part Four

**Sorry for the long wait. Had writer's block. However, it's done with, and we are slowly but surely catching up with the present time in this story. :D Next chapter for sure. **

* * *

><p><span>Part Four<span>

**_Four hours earlier…_**

"Man, he's really out of it," Zeb muttered, watching the twelve-year-old sleep on the couch in Henry's living room. He sat on the opposite couch, cutting up paper to make pretty snowflake decorations. Ted and Fred joined him, but Ted wasn't much help as he found himself staring at the she-bear.

"Well, that's usually what happens after a sugar rush, Uncle Zeb," Jewel replied, sitting on the floor in front of the couch. She was stringing popcorn to hang on the tree. Jordan was supposed to have helped her, but he had disappeared a while ago, off to explore the Hall. Instead, Jade sat next to her, helping her out.

"No, no, Jewel, like this!" Jade exclaimed, showing her how to properly string the kernels.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's like this," Jewel giggled.

"Jewel… Listen you little smartalec…"

The she-cub just smirked and threw a piece of popcorn at her "aunt's" head. "Heehee."

"Why you little…"

"Jade…" Ray chuckled, glad to see his daughter having a good time. He surveyed the other adult bears, knowing that one of them was staring at his daughter. Sure, he wanted to yell at him, but he knew that Jade could take care of herself. She'd probably kick his—the one staring at her—ass, anyway.

James wandered over to the other adult bears, but didn't say anything as he sat in the armchair, holding lil Erin in his arms as he fed her a bottle. Tasha sat on the arm of the chair and shook her head. "When's dinner? Taking care of our two lil monsters has made me ravenous."

Henry, Norbert, and Allison worked in the kitchen, preparing dinner for everyone—they had offered to switch with Ted, Fred, and Zeb, who had wanted to cook macaroni and cheese instead of a large dinner. Dex and Roxi were curled up in the loveseat near the fireplace.

Jade glanced over at Ted, knowing that he had been staring at her. He looked away, causing her to smirk. She spoke to Tasha. "They're making it right now, Tash. Chill."

The other black she-bear frowned and rolled her eyes. "Don't need to be so mean, Jade. When you have cubs of your own, you'll understand."

"And who says I want cubs? Taking care of Erin, Jordan, Jewel, and Beary is exhausting enough."

"Hey!" Jewel complained, not amused.

"Well it's not my fault when you're with Beary you two come up with some insane ideas."

"I seem to recall that most of those ideas were yours."

"Oh yeah? Which ones?"

"Let's see… jumping off the roof into the pool, rock climbing—and not those fake ones, either—swimming in a river in the middle of winter… just to name a few."

"True… but you and Beary had some, too. Like mud wrestling while it was raining, cliff diving, four wheeling, storm chasing…"

"Hm… true… but those were mainly Beary's ideas. Well, the storm chasing was mine, but Beary totally made the cliff diving decision when he jumped off the cliff into the lake below." She giggled at that. "Our childhood was epic." She glanced around the room at the wide-mouthed bears who were staring at her in shock and surprise. "What?"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't see it…" Zeb frowned. "You and Beary are the sweetest cubs we know!"

"Oh, then you don't know us at all," Jewel smirked devilishly. "We are far from sweet."

"Yeah, right."

Jewel shrugged. "Suit yourself." She went back to stringing popcorn kernels and glanced over at the sleeping form of her boyfriend before sighing. "When are my parents going to get here?" she asked softly.

The adults—sans Jade and Ray—glanced at each other and frowned. "Jewel, honey," Tasha began, "we don't know when they'll be home… that blizzard was not in the plans… but I'm sure they're doing everything possible to come home to you. No parent wants to spend Christmas away from their child…"

"If I know Trixie as much I think I do, she's probably hijacking a small plane to get herself and Tennessee back here," James continued.

"Uh-huh… my mom doing that… not likely."

"Hey, she knows how to fly a plane. Of course, your father probably wouldn't like it… I mean, he's not exactly a fan of planes."

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Beary needs to hurry up and wake up so we can finish wrapping presents."

"Ooooo you got us presents?" Zeb grinned happily.

"And you're not getting them until Christmas."

"Aww, but Jewel…"

"No, Uncle Zeb."

The auburn bear pouted and stuck his tongue out at her. Jewel quickly returned the gesture. Ray shook his head in exasperation. "So glad my kids aren't that immature anymore," he muttered. Jewel turned and scowled at him.

Beary shifted on the couch and moaned, slowly shaking his head as he began to wake up. "What…?"

The golden she-bear looked over at him and smiled. "Bout time you woke up, C-Bear," she smirked happily. She abandoned the string of kernels and went over to him, helping him sit up.

Beary looked at her in amusement and held her paw as he rested his head on her shoulder, yawning slightly.

"D'aw," Zeb snickered, watching them. "So cute."

Jewel ignored him and smiled at Beary… at least, until the others started teasing them. Then she frowned and growled at them, but they wouldn't stop saying how cute she and Beary were together… but what really ticked her off was what Ray said.

"A twelve-year-old boyfriend/girlfriend couple? Kids these days, dating younger and younger. Foolish, if you ask me. Actually, more stupid than foolish. That's how teenage pregnancy happens. Not only that, but teens are becoming parents younger and younger every day."

"Dad, come on, they're not that stupid," Jade stated.

"She's right. Beary and I would never become parents. Besides, we don't even know how that works. Always heard the stork brought cubs."

Ray raised an eyebrow and blinked. "Don't they teach you kids ANYTHING in those schools?"

"Dad, they only just started middle school," Jade frowned.

"Which is why they shouldn't be dating. Too immature."

"I'll have you know that Beary and I are top in our class!" Jewel snorted, getting angrier by the second.

Beary glanced at her. "Jewel, cool it."

"No, Beary! I won't let him say bad things about us!"

"They've been dating for how long now, and you haven't told them about sex?!" Ray growled, annoyed.

The cubs glanced at each other, confused. "Uh… what?"

"They're just kids!" Henry snarled, coming into the room. "We were going to tell them when they were older!"

Jewel took Beary's paw and pulled him out of the room, disgusted by the adults' antics. It was a good thing, too, that she took Beary with her. If she hadn't, Beary would have had to witness something that he and the others had never seen before…

"You were going to wait?! Just how long were you going to wait?! Until that girl was pregnant because they got curious?!" Ray spat out. He had seen this happen too many times, and the fact that Henry and Helen had let this go on was aggravating. "What on earth are you and Helen thinking?! Are you two crazy?! Where is she, anyway? I highly doubt she would allow this foolishness, unless she's gone as senile as you."

What happened next, no one could have expected. One moment Ray was standing beside Jade's couch, and the next, Henry's fist connected with his jaw, sending him to the ground.

"Don't you DARE talk about Helen!" the pepper furred bear snarled, furious.

"Henry, what the hell?!" Ray growled, getting up and glaring at him.

The others in the room stared at them in slacked jawed silence.

"Like I said, don't you dare say one word about Helen." Henry glared at him with narrow eyes.

"Henry, that's quite enough," Allison said, wandering into the room. "You're both adults, so start acting like it."

Henry glared at her unhappily, but didn't say anything, instead turning around and leaving the room.

Jade looked at her father in confusion. "Dad… what on earth was that all about…?"

"Nothing. Just leave it alone," Ray growled as he turned around and walked out another door, leaving the extremely confused group behind.

Jade glanced over at Ted, not sure what to say at all.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

**_Present Time…_**

The first thing he noticed was the choking sound. Jesse's green eyes shifted in the direction of the light brown cub, a frown on his face. He got on his knees and crawled over to them, looking Beary over before frowning. "Oh great…" he muttered before gently placing his paws on the cub's convulsing body, holding him down through his seizure. That's when he realized that Beary was choking on his own tongue, so he quickly maneuvered so that he was holding down most of the cub's body while using a free paw to hold the boy's tongue. "Easy, kid. You're going to be fine…"

Next to him, Jewel was whimpering in her semi-conscious state, muttering random bits of information about her life, her eyes shifting nervously beneath the lids.

"Easy, Jewel," Jesse said softly, watching her. "I'll turn you guys around as soon as his seizure passes." Sure enough, almost a minute later, Beary's convulsions subsided and he lay still, save for the shivering. The older male, forever eighteen-years-old, gently picked up the young male out of the blanket and set him on the thick coat Jesse had laid out, and gently wrapped his naked body in it while he maneuvered Jewel around so that her head was near the fire and she was curled up her side to give her extra warmth. He then lifted the blanket and placed Beary back next to her, a small smile creeping up his lips as he watched the young male immediately curling around Jewel, draping an arm around her waist as he spooned her, resting his head on her neck in an effort to keep her warm. Jesse quickly placed the blanket back around them before grabbing his coat and pulling it back on, shivering slightly.

He knew he should have let Beary keep his pants on, but they were soaking wet, and it wouldn't have done him any good in having wet clothes on in this cold weather. Plus, the clothes would prevent them from sharing proper body heat that would keep them from getting frostbite. No, this was the only way, allowing Beary to curl up around the equally nude she-cub, even though it was morally wrong for them to be that close together at that young of an age. It was also when he pulled off the cub's clothes that he found a bandage on his arm… and after removing the bandage carefully to see what was underneath, he had found a burn… only a few hours old by the looks of it. He had quickly redressed the wound as best he could.

He frowned and curled up behind Beary to keep him warm as well, since the fire was warming Jewel's front, Jewel's back was warming Beary's front, and nothing was warming Beary's back until now. He kept the blanket around Beary, however, choosing to stay around the cub outside the blanket to keep the heat from escaping under the blanket. "Easy, you two… Don't sleep… keep those eyes open for me."

Beary let out a soft whine. "So… t-t-ti-tired…"

"I know you are, but you can't sleep… if you do, you'll never wake up again…"

"D-Don't… c-ca-care…"

"Sure you do. What about your parents? Helen's come all the way from Caelo just to save your sorry butt. Don't disappoint her, kid."

Beary didn't reply as he snuggled in closer against Jewel's body, not even realizing that he wasn't wearing clothes.

"Help me keep Jewel awake, all right? You don't want to lose her, do you?"

"N-No…" Beary softly began to whisper to Jewel, trying to keep her awake, even though he knew it was fruitless. She probably wasn't even aware that he was there.

Jesse looked straight at the fire and sighed. "Mom… Helen… hurry…" he said softly.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

**_Four hours earlier…_**

Five-year-old Jordan watched the flame dance out of the metal lighter, fascinated. He was hiding behind the Christmas tree in a corner, playing with his father's lighter that he had found in the truck earlier. He thought the flame was rather pretty.

Beary and Jewel wandered into the main part of the Hall and stood on the stage, talking quietly.

"Jewel, come on, you didn't have to storm out of there…"

"Beary, he was saying we were too young to be together! Last time I checked, we were doing just fine!"

"Well, you know, we are younger than most couples… but I agree, we're doing just fine. Though, what were they talking about?"

"Who cares. They're a bunch of jerks," Jewel muttered, sitting on the edge of the stage. Beary frowned and sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"I know, Jewel, I know… We'll just have to prove ourselves to them."

"But how, Beary…? I… I don't know what to do… What if they make us break up?"

"I won't allow that to happen, Gem. I promise." He kissed her cheek and nuzzled her nose, causing her to smile and lean in for a hug.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, and then the sound of light giggling from behind them drew their attention to the tree.

Jewel blinked and grinned. She knew that giggle. "Jordan? Why are you hiding behind the tree?"

"Hiding!"

"Why're you hiding?" Beary questioned playfully.

Jordan didn't get a chance to answer before he heard his mother's voice echoing through the Hall as she stuck head in through the door between the Hall and Henry's cabin.

"Dinner time!"

Jordan let out an excited squeal and climbed out from underneath the tree, the lighter still aflame, He giggled happily as he ran towards Beary and Jewel, ready to leap off the stage.

Jewel laughed and grabbed him before he could, not noticing the lighter flying out of his paws as she hopped off the stage, holding him in his arms and pretending that he was superman.

Beary made to join them, but paused, seeing the shiny object on the ground. "Jordan? What are you doing with your father's lighter?"

Jordan suddenly looked rather guilty. "Pwayin…"

"Jordy, you know you're not supposed to be playing with this!" Jewel scolded.

"Me sowi," the little black cub whimpered.

"It's okay. Come on, let's go eat."

The little one nodded and wrapped his arms around her neck as the three of them walked back towards Henry's cabin for Christmas dinner, Beary pocketing the lighter.

It wasn't until they were almost to the door that Jordan spoke up, giggling. "Pwetty light!" he said, pointing at the stage. "Tree all lit up!"

Beary and Jewel glanced at each other, a sinking feeling in the pits of their stomachs as they turned around with wide eyes at the sight on stage.

The tree was on fire, and so were the boxes of ornaments, and the flames were slowly beginning to creep up the stage curtains.

"Oh, shit…" Beary muttered. "Um… Jewel…? I think you should go get the others…" He raced up the stairs. Snagging a couple blankets, he tried to extinguish the flames.. He wished he knew where the fire extinguisher was. Beary heard the others yelling and the pounding of feet. The flames jumped up at him, snaking up his arm. He suddenly found himself wishing he had worn his jacket as it melted his fur and began to burn his skin, causing him to let out a blood curdling scream of pain as he tried to brush it off, burning his other paw in the process, panicking as it continued up his arm and reaching his short sleeved shirt, setting it aflame.

"Beary!" a voice shrieked as a pair of paws dragged Beary away from the flames and began patting him down with a blanket while another bear held him down. "Easy, kid," Ted said, holding him against his chest as Jade patted out the flames. "Shh… easy… easy…" he said soothingly.

Jade watched the interaction between the two bears as she finished smothering the yellow orange heat. "Tasha, get over here. These burns are pretty nasty."

"Sure, Jade. Bring him over here for now."

Jade nodded and held Beary's legs as she and Ted carried the injured male over to Tasha before going over to help battle the flames.

Henry and Ray worked side-by-side using two of the three extinguishers, trying to keep the blaze under control. Already, they had contained almost eighty percent of it. The other adults helped by using blankets to pat out the flames on the ground while the three extinguishers were used to attack the curtains.

Fred went over to the rigging and quickly untied the ropes holding the flaming curtains in hopes of stopping the fire from spreading, which thankfully worked. Zeb helped him by stamping out the flames after putting a blanket over the flames so as to hopefully not burn his feet.

After spraying the rest of the flames out with the extinguishers, Henry and Ray set them down and looked at the destruction. The curtains, tree, and decorations were ruined, and black soot marred the walls and the stage. Thankfully, the fire hadn't lasted long enough, nor spread far enough, to cause serious damage… well, except that part of the stage was destroyed, the fire having almost eaten through some of the floorboards, which would now have to be replaced.

"What the hell caused all this…?" Henry growled, furious.

"Henry, I'm sure it was just an accident," Allison stated, her heart still racing from the danger. She looked over at her husband, as well as Dex, and his girlfriend, Roxi. She then glanced over their heads at Tasha, who was treating Beary for his burns, Jewel hovering beside him. She hurried over to her adopted child and fussed over him.

"I'm surprised these are not as bad as they should be. They're only bordering on second degree… he doesn't even need a hospital," Tasha said, startled. "All I have to do is give him some burn ointment and bandage him up. He'll be fine in a couple of days."

"What?" The others looked at her in confusion. That didn't seem possible at all…

Beary leaned heavily against Jewel, who had finally knelt down beside him and held onto him while her aunt bandaged him up.

Henry, meanwhile, happy that his son was all right, looked around, still shaking in anger. "How the hell did this start? The tree wasn't near anything electrical! A fire doesn't just start!"

Beary swallowed nervously and reached into his pocket with his free paw, holding the lighter. He knew if Jordan was found out to be the culprit, there would be serious consequences. He didn't want the little guy's Christmas to be ruined… Should he take the fall? Or should he let it die out…?

His father, meanwhile, got down on one knee to look at the decorations, suddenly seeming quite nervous. "Where is it…?" he muttered softly to himself as he dug through the ruined objects. When he came across what he was looking for, he let out a furious growl. He turned around, revealing the blackened form of a winged bear. Stuffing was falling out of it and its dress was completely ruined, as was the fur and the wings. "Helen made this…" he said in a neutral tone. "Our very first Christmas together…"

The twelve-year-old male gulped and let out a silent whine. His mother's Christmas Tueri had been destroyed… Guilt began to fill him as he realized if he had been paying closer attention, he could have saved the decorations and the tree. If he had been paying closer attention, he would have spotted Jordan sooner, as well as the fire. This… this was all his fault… His ears flattened as he heard the other adults talking and shaking their heads in disproval.

It didn't take long for the adults to put two and two together and looked at Beary, Jewel, and Jordan.

"Cubs…? You were in here… what happened?" James asked, fixing them with a stern glare.

Henry stalked over to them, eyes filled with anger.

Beary sighed and stood up, ignoring Jewel and Tasha's protests. Shaking, he pulled the lighter out of his pocket and held it out for the others to see.

Ted and Jade blinked and glanced at each other, as did the others. Henry looked at his son in confusion. "But… why…?"

"I… I'm sorry…"

"You have to have some kind of reason, right?" Zeb asked, startled.

Henry glared at his son. "I'm waiting!" Hearing Beary say "sorry" like it would fix anything, he found himself getting angrier and angrier. "You're **_sorry_**?!"

Beary flinched. "Well, I uh…" He glanced over at Jewel before looking at Jordan, who was crying. Upon seeing the young black bear, he knew he couldn't rat him out. "I…" He looked back at Jewel and gave the slightest shake of his head, knowing she wanted to speak out. "I did it," he said, turning back around. "I was playing with the lighter and… uh… yeah…"

Jewel looked down, upset. She knew Beary was going to be in a lot of trouble.

Jade growled, angry. Ray looked at the male in disappointment. "Told you he was immature."

Henry ignored Ray. "Well it was damn stupid of you in the first place to play with lighters! What were you thinking?!"

Beary nervously shuffled his feet, staring at the ground.

"Probably wasn't thinking at the moment," James stated.

"Look at what you've done!" Henry roared, holding out the Tueri tree topper before gesturing at the blackened walls and destroyed tree and decorations. "You could have burnt the whole place down! You put others in danger! Look at this damage! Do you know much it's going to cost to fix all this?!"

Beary flinched again, shaking slightly as he fought back his tears, his ears flat against his head in a saddened expression.

The other adults didn't say one word if they thought that Henry was being too harsh. None of them could believe that Beary had done this. They were equally furious.

Henry took a deep breath and sighed, shaking his head. "I'm very disappointed in you, Beary. I thought you were more mature than that. Maybe Ray's right. You're too immature for a relationship."

Beary looked up in shock. "Don't punish Jewel because I was stupid!"

Jewel looked down, also upset. She couldn't lose Beary… He was her best friend!

"Norbert, Allison, Tennessee, Trixie, and I will discuss what to do when they get back."

"But-"

"No buts!"

"This sucks!"

Allison, hearing this, sent her over the edge. Red in the face, she walked straight over to her adopted son, snatched the lighter out of his paw and tossed it to Norbert. She then led him through Henry's office, to his cabin, and finally to Beary's room, where her screaming to could be heard by all inside the Hall as she ripped him a new one.

Dex winced and glanced at Roxi. "Ooo… I kinda feel bad for him… Never seen mom so mad before."

The female punk shook her head. "Well, he has to learn…"

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

Jewel sat nervously outside Beary's door, silently listening to his muffled sobs. She felt horrible for what had happened. Allison had spent almost twenty minutes yelling at him before leaving him in his room and walking outside too cool off before she rejoined the others cleaning up the stage the best they could.

Jewel had been up on the stage helping out as well, and she had seen Beary peeking around the corner at them, listening to the adults complaining about what he had done. She had excused herself and walked towards him, but he had quickly scurried away and had shut himself in his room. That's how she found herself outside his room while the others finished with the stage.

"Beary, please… let me in…" she said softly. Getting no response, she frowned. Why had the room gone silent? Cautiously, she got up and opened the door, shivering at the blast of cold air that met her. Her eyes widened. The bed was empty… and the window was open. She knew right then and there that Beary had run away.

Rather than squeal and get Beary into more trouble, she turned around and raced for the closet, grabbing hers and his coat before running back into his room and shutting the door silently. She stuffed some pillows under the blankets to make it look like someone was there. Hastily, she climbed out the window and landed in the snow pile that had grown underneath. She shut the window and began walking, following his footprints through the snow.

What she didn't know as she started out was that there was a deadly blizzard on route.

It would be almost an hour and a half before anyone noticed they were gone.


	6. Part Five

Part Five

**_Two hours earlier…_**

It hadn't taken Jewel more than ten minutes to track Beary down through the falling snow. As soon as she had, she found that all he had with him was a backpack, and he was shivering violently. After all, it was only five degrees Fahrenheit. "Beary! Wait for me!" she called, scurrying over.

He looked back in surprise. "Jewel? What are you doing out here? Go back!" Though, he was happy to see her.

She shook her head and handed him his coat. "You forgot this." She could see the frozen tears on his face, causing her to frown. "Why'd you do it? Why didn't you tell them the truth?"

He took the coat and set the backpack in the snow as he pulled on the fabric before returning the bag back to its proper place. "I couldn't ruin his Christmas, Jewel…"

"Beary, come on. You should have told them. They yelled at you for nothing. I can see those frozen tears. You're really upset." She scooted up close to him and wrapped her arms around him in order to warm him up some.

"It doesn't matter," he muttered, looking away as he returned the hug, still shivering. "Go on back to the Hall…"

"Nuh-uh. Not leaving you alone out here. Why are you out here, anyway?"

He sighed and looked back at her. "I wanted to make it up to everyone. I wanted to go get a new tree. I know it doesn't fix the decorations or the rest of the damage, but…" He felt horrible about his mother's Tueri tree topper that had been destroyed. Even though it was not physically his fault, he still was convinced it was mentally. He could have done more to stop the fire.

"Beary, where are you going to get a new tree? **_How_** are you going to get one? There are no pine trees around here! Even if there were, you don't have anything to cut it down with."

"There's a tree farm not too far from here. Nine miles away, I swear. I can cover that amount of time fairly quickly."

"If it was summertime and there was no snow, Beary," she pointed out. "Besides, it's getting dark and the snow is falling harder. L et's go home… please…"

"You can. I have to redeem myself." He didn't know how to tell her that he didn't feel welcome at the Hall anymore. Not after what had happened.

"C-Bear…"

"Gem, cool it. I'm not going back. You heard what they said! They're going to split us up!"

"Not if they know the truth!"

"Ruining a child's Christmas just to free myself of the blame that I deserve is wrong, Jewel, and you know it!"

"You did nothing wrong! Why do you keep blaming yourself for something you didn't even do?!"

"I could have stopped it! If I had seen it sooner, I could have prevented it from spreading!"

"So could have I. But that's in the past. Neither of us knew what was going on until it was too late!"

"I should have realized when I saw him with the lighter! I should have looked!"

"Beary, stop it! Please! It's not anyone's fault!"

He growled in frustration and pulled away from her, beginning to stalk away.

Jewel whimpered, her tears rolling down her cheeks as she slowly began to follow him, upset. "Please… Please don't leave, Beary…"

"I have to. They hate me now… it's too late… But at least I can give them a decent Christmas by getting them a new tree."

For the next hour, she argued and complained, wanting to get him to come back to the Hall with her. However, the further they walked, the more lost Jewel became. Where were they? The snow had begun to fall even harder than before, reducing visibility to almost ten feet. The wind was blowing hard, numbing Jewel's limbs through the coat, especially her paws, feet, and head, all of which she had no protection for.

"B-B-Beary, w-we h-h-have…t-to t-t-turn b-ba-back!" Jewel yelled, her voice being carried away by the fierce, biting wind that tangled her fur.

Beary tightly clutched her paw, afraid to let go in case Jewel became lost in the freak blizzard. He knew that she wanted to go home, but how was he going to tell her that they were lost?

The snow continued to fall at a rapid pace, sticking to their fur and clumping it together. The snow was as high as their knees. It had started falling only about an hour ago, but the amount that had been dumped on them was ridiculous. It had never snowed this much before!

A sudden pull at his arm jerked him backwards. Beary turned and found Jewel had collapsed. "Jewel!" he cried, immediately lifting her out of the snow. He could feel her shaking in his arms, and knew that with her thin fur, she would succumb to frostbite or hypothermia faster than he would. "Shh…" he whispered, caressing her cheek, trying to soften her whimpers.

He looked around, knowing that they had to find shelter as soon as possible. How had it come to this?

.~*~.

Henry sighed as he finished dumping the last bit of the destroyed objects in the trash can. He hadn't spoken to anyone since his outburst almost two hours before. He had refused to throw away the ruined tree topper, though. He didn't want to give away something so important to his and Helen's marriage.

Ray had quickly learned from Zeb that the reason why he hadn't seen Helen was because she had died nine years earlier. Zeb hadn't told him much, leaving out the part about Helen having been murdered by a deranged maniac. Ray knew something hadn't been said, but he didn't push it. Though he **_was_** rather surprised that Beary was the only cub that the Taylors ever had, and the fact that it had taken them twenty years to get pregnant. Why had it taken so long? How had they managed to do it? However, more important things arose in his mind: Why had Henry gotten so angry about how much the damage was going to cost? "Come on, Henry. Let's go eat. We can do repairs later."

The pepper furred bear frowned, brows furrowed. He didn't know if he wanted to go eat or not. He was still furious, and wasn't sure if he could keep his anger in check if he saw his son. He knew he shouldn't take his anger out on the boy, but he was just so mad! He had very few of Helen's possessions left… and this tree topper was something she had **_made_** almost thirty-two years ago… for their first Christmas… and now it was ruined.

The others had already left the stage in order to go eat, leaving the two males alone.

"Henry, what's done is done. Let it go."

"Leave me alone, Ray."

The army sergeant shook his head. "Suit yourself." He walked back down the walkway in between the benches and didn't look back.

After fifteen minutes or so, Henry moved off the stage and walked silently up the stairs to the loft before climbing onto one of the thicker rafter beams and sitting down, leaning back against the slope of another beam. One leg hung down while the other was bent in front of him, making him almost look like a teenager. He stared up at the ceiling, one paw holding the charred remains of the tree topper to his chest. Slowly, he closed his eyes, letting his mind drift back in time.

**F****LASHBAC****K**

_"Henry! That tickles!" twenty-year-old Helen squealed as she struggled in his arms._

_Henry laughed and nuzzled her neck playfully as he rocked her side to side in their living room, which was lit by candles. "Ah well. Not my fault you're so ticklish." _

_"Very funny." She smiled and leaned into his gentle touch. "We have to get the tree decorated, you know… not to mention get up on the roof and push the snow off before the rafters collapse."_

_"Yeah… Going to fix those in the springtime." He smiled at her. They had just moved into the Hall during the fall, almost right after they had gotten married, which took place a few days after he had returned from Vietnam. Henry's grandparents had died earlier that year, and the will stated that he would inherit the Hall. Al had arrived not long after. He wasn't here for Christmas, however, having wanted to visit a friend out in Salt Lake City for the holidays. _

_"You better, Mr. Taylor," she giggled. _

_"Now… for the decorations…" He broke away from his lovely bride and picked up a box, heading over to the small tree, only three feet tall. At the time, that was all they could afford. Helen hadn't expected them to have a tree at all that year, but Henry had surprised her earlier that Christmas Eve morning. He opened the box, revealing several old glass orbs of various colors, most of which were broken, as well as a few decorated orbs covered in swirls of glitter. Also in the box was a bag of silver and blue tinsel and some small candles inside some clear glass orbs—which surprisingly hadn't been smashed._

_He looked at the broken ornaments and frowned unhappily. "Looks like my grandparents' ornaments didn't last very long in the attic."_

_"Aw, Henry…" Helen said softly, kneeling beside him. "It's okay. Most of them have survived." She knew that wasn't true. There was only a third of the original ornaments that were still usable. _

_"I just wanted this Christmas to be perfect for you." He sighed. "No electricity, the water doesn't work…" He was unhappy about the cost of the electricity and water bills. He did have an idea one what to do about the water, since the waterworks was so far away. He thought that they could make their own waterworks come springtime, that way they wouldn't have to pay the cost of getting water all the way from Nashville. He had talked to Al about it, and Al said he would help. That would also mean that they could use the money that the water bill normally took for the electricity bill._

_"Hey, I don't mind doing things ol' school, Hen. Sure we have to dig up snow from outside and put it in a metal basin to melt and warm up in front of the wooden stove. I don't mind. What I'm happy about is that we have our own place…" She smiled and placed a paw on his cheek, turning his head to look at her. "And I have you…"_

_He blushed slightly and nuzzled her. "And I have you," he repeated, smiling. He gave her a gentle kiss and started handing her some of the non-broken ornaments, placing the broken ones in a trash bag._

_Helen lovingly placed each ornament on the tree with gentle care. She made sure that Henry had put some on the evergreen as well. They soon started throwing tinsel onto it, before getting into a tinsel fight, laughing as they got the silver and blue ribbons stuck in their fur._

_By the time the tree was done, it looked beautiful. The candles flickered inside their orbs, sparkling against the shiny tinsel. The colored and decorated orbs reflected the light as well. The only thing that was missing was a star on the top._

_The male grizzly blinked and looked through the boxes again, trying to find his grandmother's beautiful rainbow star. "I… I thought I brought all the boxes down…"_

_"You did, Hen…" Helen frowned. "Maybe Nana put it somewhere else? Or she sold it? Maybe she gave it to your mother."_

_"Perhaps. Mama always wanted that star." He sighed. "Now we have nothing to put on it…"_

_The light brown she-bear got up and walked into one of the spare rooms, returning with her paws behind her back. "Close your eyes."_

_He nodded slowly and did so. A few moments later, when told to open them, he blinked and looked at her before looking at the tree in surprise._

_Set on the top was a winged bear wearing a red dress laced with white snowflake patterns. Her fur was golden, and her wings silver. She held a candle in her small paws. _

_"Oh, Helen… Wherever did you get it?"_

_"Well, I made it," she said bashfully, kneeling and leaning against him. _

_He wrapped his arms around her. "It's beautiful, Honeydew."_

_She gave him a kiss. "Merry Christmas, Henry. I love you…"_

_He returned the gesture. "Merry Christmas to you, too, Helen. I love you more than anything in the world…"_

**E****N****D F****LASHBAC****K**

"…nry… Henry!"

The elder bear blinked and looked around in confusion. He could hear Ted calling his name.

"Henry, where are you?!" The black bear wandered around on the ground floor, not even looking up.

Henry shook his head. "Up here, Ted."

The forty-six-year-old looked up in surprised, letting out a startled yelp at seeing the fifty-one-year-old sitting precariously on one of the rafters. "Henry, get down here!"

"I don't want anything to eat. Leave me alone."

"Beary and Jewel are missing!"

The pepper bear nearly fell off the beams in surprise. "What do you mean they're missing?! Where could they have gone?!" He quickly scrambled off the beam onto the loft and down the stairs.

"I mean that they're gone! Their coats are not in the closet, and Ray found the latch on Beary's window was open."

"Have you searched outside?"

He nodded. "The others are out there right now… Henry… there's another problem… There's a blizzard going on… the snow is already two feet high. Visibility is almost zero!"

"I don't care! We have to find them! How long ago did they leave?"

"We don't know for sure. Ray says that according to the coldness of the bed, it was over an hour ago."

"Damn it…" Henry walked out of the Hall, through his office, and into his living room, grabbing his coat from the closet as well as gloves and earmuffs. Ted was already wearing his coat, and was holding a flashlight. "Come on! Let's go!"

The black bear nodded and together they walked out the door in his offices into the blistering cold. On the wind, he could hear the calls of the other adults, though he couldn't see them. The snow was too thick. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it was going to be extremely difficult to find the missing cubs. And judging by the snow fall, the storm was just going to get worse.

Henry separated from Ted and started searching, yelling out Beary's name. He kept the blurry lights from the Hall in sight at all times.

.~*~.

He didn't know how much time had passed, nor did he notice the numbness in his feet or the fact that he could no longer see the lights of the Hall. The snow was so deep that it was up to his waist. "BEARY!" he shouted over the wind, ignoring the shivers that raked his body. He never heard the calls of the others, who were now trying to locate him as well as the missing cubs.

Henry was too distracted to even notice how cold he truly was. All he could think about was how this was his fault… his only child was somewhere out here, possibly freezing to death, because he had yelled at him at the cost of how much money the damage was going to cost and because of what had happened to Helen's Tueri. Two cubs were now going to die because of his stupidity. He called his son's name again and again, but he heard nothing but the wind whistling. Terror had slowly been filling him as he realized that he might never see his child again.

Eventually he collapsed in the snow, exhausted. He couldn't feel his legs anymore. Henry was parched, extremely thirsty. He no longer knew where he was. He was most likely going to die out here. It seemed fitting, actually, that he die in the way his son and Jewel were. His retribution.

"Helen… I'm coming home…" he whispered as he closed his eyes.

"You're right you're coming home, mister. You're coming with me back to the Hall."

Henry slowly opened his eyes, seeing two blurry figures in front of him. One of them knelt down and lightly kissed his lips. He knew that kiss… how could he forget it? "Helen…" he whispered before falling into darkness.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

"Damn it… instead of two cubs missing, now we have three bears!" Jade growled, glaring at Ted. "You were supposed to stay with him, you idiot!"

"It's not my fault! One moment he was next to me, the next, he was gone!" Ted complained, returning her glare.

"Why didn't you get a rope or something for the pair of you to hold onto?! Surely you're not that daft! Everyone else had one!"

"Like I said, he was there one moment, and the next he was gone!"

"And it's your fault!"

"Listen, you-"

"ENOUGH!" Raymond roared, quite annoyed. "Stop bickering like children! This is not going to solve anything!"

Jade growled at her father before falling silent. Ted, however, didn't want to listen. "Who are you to tell us what to do?"

Ray fixated him with a death glare. "Boy, don't make me shove my foot up your ass."

"I'd like to see you try." Ted was intimidated by the bigger male, but he wasn't about to show it. He had his pride.

Zeb glanced at Fred. "Ten bucks says Ted gets taken out by the big guy," he muttered.

Fred nodded. "You're on."

Ray growled at the small black bear, debating on whether or not to knock him down to size, but didn't get a chance before Allison stepped between them.

"Knock it off, both of you!" she cried, eyes red from crying. "This isn't helping anyone!"

Dex decided to join her mother and glared at the older bears. "You should be out there looking some more! My little brother is gone because you guys blamed him for something he didn't do! I know Beary better than you! He doesn't like lighters because of an accident that happened at school when another student brought a lighter and decided to play with it on the playground! My brother got burned, and he's always stayed away from lighters since! Why the hell would he do something like this?!"

The adults, sans Allison, Norbert, and the Stones who knew the tale already, blinked and looked at each other in confusion. They had no knowledge of this.

"That doesn't change the fact that-" Zeb began halfheartedly.

Tasha sighed and finally spoke up. "Actually… Jordan told me what happened… He was the one playing with the lighter behind the tree, and when he heard me calling them for dinner, he ran out under the tree with the lid of the lighter open and the flame lit…"

James blinked and looked at his son, who was cowering behind his mother, who was holding Erin. "Jordy?"

The five-year-old sniffled. "I sowi… I no mean for Beawy to get in twouble."

Ray actually looked dumbfounded, as did Jade and Ted. Allison looked absolutely horrified.

"Now why would he do that…? He knew we would get mad…" Zeb said softly, looking rather ashamed.

Dex growled. "Great. Blame him for something he didn't do. That's just great. You know damn well how sensitive he is!"

Roxi went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Easy."

He shook her off. "I'm going back out to look."

"You will do no such thing. There's a blizzard going on out there!"

"Yeah, and my little brother's trapped out in it!"

"I know that, babe, but there's nothing we can do about it right now. We've already lost Henry out in the blizzard. If you got lost, you wouldn't stand a chance. They have fur, we don't."

He gave her a frustrated look.

"We're going to find him, Dex. I know we will… But for now, we're going to have to wait until the storm clears and pray that they have found shelter. They're smart cubs… They'll do everything they can to survive."

Zeb sighed. "Maybe we should go out for one more search."

"I have to agree." Ray looked at the humans. "You stay here."

"I will do no such thing! My son is out there!" Allison snarled, standing toe-to-toe with him.

Ray glared at her. He had no respect for this female. Who was she to raise a bear cub? He did not understand. But he was sure that this was why Beary was so damn immature and why he was dating at such a young age, not to mention the fact that they hadn't been told about the Bond or sex. He had made sure that his daughter had known when she reached the age of twelve, just to be safe. After all, that was the age when bear could begin breeding, as much as he hated it. Not only that, but there were certain things that had to be learned by cubs as they grew up. The human probably didn't even know that. He wanted to tell her outright that Beary was not her child, but knew it would be like talking to a brick wall. Why hadn't Henry taken his son back instead of letting him be raised in a place that would confuse him?! No wonder the boy was the way he is.

"Well?! Aren't you going to say anything?!"

"Uh, Allison, I wouldn't-" Fred began, frowning.

"Fred, enough. Lady, I swear I'll-"

Freezing cold blasts of air suddenly entered the room as the door opened, three figures standing in the doorway, two in the shadows.

"You'll do what, Sunshine?" the shortest one asked, the light revealing black fur, emerald green eyes, and wore a pair of bell-bottom jeans, a red and green tie-dye shirt, and a suede vest. It was obvious this she-bear was pregnant… well, looked that way, anyway.

Ray's eyes could not have gotten any wider as he stared at her in complete and utter shock. He couldn't get his mouth to work. It couldn't be… she was gone… over thirty years ago…

Ted blinked and looked at Jade before looking at the other black she-bear in confusion. They were almost identical.

Jade didn't know what to think. She felt like she knew this bear… but how?

"Well, Sunshine? I'm waiting."

"C-Cassandra…?"

Jade's eyes widened. No. It couldn't be… Her mother was dead…

Cassandra Falco smiled. "Well of course it's me, Ray. Who else do you know that is as small as me and can kick your ass?" She sighed when he continued to stare. Shaking her head, she walked up to him and planted a kiss on his lips.

Ray didn't know how to respond at first. He was… Actually, he didn't know what he was feeling. There were so many emotions… Her lips on his felt like a dream, and he knew dreams weren't real.

Cass pulled away and looked at him. "Ray? Are you okay?" She placed a paw on his cheek, frowning.

"I hate to break this up, but could I get a little help out here? It's rather cold and Hen's put on a lot of weight in the past nine years," a female said, her voice sounding from the doorway.

Eyes were drawn away from Ray and the strange she-bear known as Cassandra, and fell upon the sight of the she-bear struggling through the doorway supporting the unconscious form of Henry Taylor.

Fred dropped the cup of cocoa he had been drinking and stared at the female with facial fur so light it was almost white surrounded by light brown fur. She had lovely forest green eyes and a warm smile. Fred wasn't the only one who was left flabbergasted at the familiar female.

"H-H-Helen…?" Ted whispered, eyes full of wonder.

"Who else—oof!" she cried as she collapsed under Henry's weight, landing beneath him. She started laughing as she looked up at their stunned expressions. "Hiya, boys. How's it been?"

Ted, Fred, and Zeb took one look at each other before bursting out in laughter. The scene was just so familiar to them all, the only difference being that Henry and Helen were both _clothed_. Last time this had happened, the band had wandered in on a rather… interesting scene… and startled the pair of lovers.

"Gee, ya think we should leave 'em alone? They're apparently busy," Zeb smirked, eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Oh, hardeehar har har. Very funny, guys. Get your heads out of the gutter," Helen scowled, giving them a dirty look. "Though… that would make my day… getting back in bed with him…" She winked at their horrified expressions as they quickly backed away.

Ray shook his head and pulled away from Cass, whom he was still convinced was an illusion, and picked up Henry, supporting him with one arm—Henry's arm draped over his shoulder—as he led him over to the couch. He set him down upon it and checked him over. "He looks like he needs some time in front of the fire, but other than that, he's fine…"

"Well, I wasn't about to let him die, you know. It's not his time to come with me… not for a long, long time…" Helen said softly as she got up and brushed herself off, letting her very long brown hair flow free. "As for another member of my family… He doesn't have very long at all…"

"What do you mean? Beary's going to die?" Ted asked, startled.

"No!" Allison cried, whimpering. "Don't let my boy die… please!"

Helen looked over at them and smiled as she walked over to the humans. She looked at them for a moment before pulling Norbert and Allison in a hug. "I am eternally grateful to you. Both of you… for taking in my little boy…" she whispered, holding them close.

Allison and Norbert were stunned. What was going on? Who was thi—Wait. Realization dawned on them and their eyes widened. This was Beary's birth mother… the one who gave up her life so her son would survive.

The others, too, seemed to realize something was amiss as they stared at Helen.

Sensing this, Helen pulled away from the humans and tore off her overcoat, revealing jeans and a lovely sweater with a snowflake pattern. She turned her back to them and lifted up the sweater, revealing an ugly, circular scar in the middle of her lower back. Only it wasn't a scar persay, but almost a gaping wound that would never heal. Her shattered spine was clearly visible.

"I did die… My spine broken by a shotgun bullet. I only kept myself alive in that river through the sheer will that my son would live." She pulled her sweater back down and turned around, looking at their horrified expressions. "Sorry…"

"T-Th-That's…" Tasha began, breaking off when she couldn't form another thought.

"It's all right. It was a painful way to die, but not as painful as the thought that I wouldn't see my Beary grow up. Be there, I mean. However, the point is that he did grow up in a loving home with amazing parents that loved him even though he wasn't like them. You did your best in teaching him our culture even though it contradicted with your own. You even taught him about the gods that you didn't believe in. You helped him earn his totems and raised him as a bear, but at the same time as a human."

"I'd have to say the worst part was the shedding season," Norbert muttered.

Helen laughed. "I know what you mean. Shedding sucks."

That sent chuckles around the room.

Dex, however, was not amused. "If you had the ability to watch over him, then why didn't you protect him from those nutcases? Why did you let them torture him?"

"Dex!" Roxi smacked his arm.

Helen flinched and sighed. "No, he's fine. I was on a hunt. Chasing a pair of Belua that had been terrorizing a town. By the time I got back, I quickly took action and reminded Henry of the cabin. From then on, I kept my child company as he fought against the poison. I kept him safe from the Belua that wanted him."

"Belua?"

"Soul stealers. Basically demons, only much fiercer. They are a pain in the butt to get rid of, especially with that kiss of theirs. The _Morte Suavium_. Death's Kiss. That wizard lady that wrote the _Harry Potter_ series based those dementors and their kiss on Belua."

Dex blinked. "How do you know so much about _Harry Potter_…?"

"Reading over Beary's shoulder."

"Oookay…"

Helen shook her head and wandered over to the couch, placing a paw on Henry's forehead. "Hen, it's time to wake up…"

There was a soft groan as he slowly opened his eyes, revealing the hazel beauty within. "H-He-Helen…?"

"Hiya, hun. It's about time you wo—ah!" Helen let out a startled yelp as she was pulled down on top of him in a tight hug, which she immediately returned.

The others quickly and silently left the room to give them some time alone. They had to figure out a plan for going back out into the storm to find the missing cubs.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

The first thing he heard was a howl, followed by the pounding of paws in the thick snow, and then the hungry growls and barks outside the entrance.

'_Wolves,_' Jesse thought, then frowned. '_They wouldn't come here… The fire would scare them off. These are no ordinary wolves. Rogues that must be starving. Great_' He looked at the two cubs who were barely awake and then up at the entrance. The wolves were digging, trying to get in. They could sense how weak Beary and Jewel were.

"Stay awake you two. We've got company." He shook their arms, hoping to keep them somewhat awake. Jewel let out a soft moan and whimpered while Beary groaned as he opened his eyes. He muttered something incoherent and closed them again.

"Oh, geez. I thought the fire would work in keeping them warm… Guess it is getting a little low, but I can't go out and get more firewood… I guess I coul-" He didn't get a chance to finish the thought before the first raggedy wolf entered the shelter, growling something fierce. It looked sickly, foaming at the mouth and a deranged look in its eyes.

Rabies.

Shit.


	7. Part Six

**I know this chapter is short. I apologize, but it was necessary to be short. But at least I posted in less than two-three weeks! :)**

**Also, in case you haven't heard, there is now a Country Bears RP forum. www. countrybearsrp. proboards. com [just remove the spaces]**

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><p><span>Part Six<span>

Jesse got up slowly, watching the wolf carefully. What was it going to do… It was looking right at him, growling menacingly. "Easy," the brown bear said softly. He couldn't attack it outright, but he had to keep it away from the cubs. For now, the fire was keeping it at bay.

Typically, at that very moment the fire died out and the wolf lunged.

And Jesse was blind as a bat and had no room to fight back.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

Helen lay on top of Henry, staring into his hazel eyes as she lovingly stroked his cheek. Her long hair shielded their faces from view as they stole kisses from each other like a couple of teenagers. Henry's arms were wrapped around her as he smiled up at her with nothing but love in his eyes.

"My love," Helen whispered, "I've missed you…"

Henry stole yet another kiss from her. "Not as much as I've missed you, Honeydew. With you gone… my life was meaningless… So empty… The light had left me. I became cold and bitter, but I fought for this place. I wouldn't let them take away our home."

"I know, Hen, I know… I also know who broke your cold outer shell…"

"Our little boy returning home…"

Helen sat up and pulled him upright, helping him scoot backward so he could stay upwards. "Hen… I hate to say this, but… it's too dangerous for any of us to go out into the storm after them… We have to-" She froze and looked up, ears flicking back and forth as she looked around for a moment before staring out the window.

Cass barged in and looked at Helen.

"I know," Helen whispered. "We have to move _now_. They're in trouble. Jess wouldn't sound the alarm unless something was really wrong."

Henry blinked. "Jess? Alarm? What are you talking about?"

"My son, Jesse, is with Beary and Jewel," Cass said as the other bears and humans entered the room.

Jade and Ray froze in the doorway and glanced at each other. "Jesse?" Jade asked, trembling slightly. Her brother? Best friend? He was here, too?

"Why the hell didn't you just bring them home with you?!" Ray shouted, glaring at them both.

"Because, Raymond, that was not our job! Our job was to bring you all together! To mend the bonds broken years ago by pride!" Cass growled, standing toe-to-toe with the massive grizzly.

Ray snarled at her, trying to intimidate her, but Cassandra wouldn't back down.

"You two are acting like children!" Allison bravely stepped between the two arguing bears and pushed them apart. "My son is out there and so is Jewel! They may not survive this storm, and I will not allow you to stop me from going out there and finding them!"

Helen chuckled, climbed off Henry, and approached Allison. "If you are going to go out there, you're going to need to have something much warmer…" She closed her eyes and placed her paw on the human's chest, just above her heart. "_A temporaria mutatio de quid est normalis fortem ut cor novum._"a She stepped back and opened her eyes.

Gasps filled the room as all eyes fell upon the human female. Her body was morphing. Auburn fur replaced Caucasian skin. Her face extended into a medium-sized snout with a black nose and red lips. Her green eyes rounded out a bit and two soft, round, fluffy ears poked out of her red hair—her human ears disappearing. Her clothes, though stretched, miraculously didn't tear.

Allison looked down at her hands—er, _paws_—and let out a startled shriek. She stumbled back and crashed to the floor as she patted herself all over and looked at the others in horror and confusion. "W-what did you do to me?!"

Helen, meanwhile, panted heavily as she sat back in Henry's arms.

Cass sighed. "Something she shouldn't have," she said, seeing that her friend was in no condition to explain. "A temporary metamorphous. Now you are a bear for a few hours, and with that, you have the warmth of our fur as well as our strength… oh, and our hunger."

"Joy," Allison grumbled as her stomach growled.

Dex couldn't help himself as he started laughing. Having his mother glare at him just made him laugh harder. Even Norbert chuckled a bit as he helped her up.

Roxi smacked her boyfriend's arm playfully in an effort to get him to stop laughing. "Bet you wouldn't laugh so hard is you were in her shoes."

"What shoes? You mean those shredded things that burst when her new fee grew in?"

"I meant if you were a bear."

"That can be arranged…" Cass murmured, smirking evilly.

Dex hurriedly backed away. "Nuh-uh. You ain't using that voodoo hoodoo on me, crazy woman!"

The black bear laughed and shook her head. "Baby."

"Not a baby…" the human pouted.

"Oh, but you are," Roxanne giggled. "You are _my_ baby." She grinned as he turned crimson.

Jade shook her head. "That's all well and good, but how do you expect us to find them when we have very little visibility?"

"Well, it would help if you opened your eyes," Cass replied, looking at her daughter.

"What are you talking about? My eyes _are_ open!"

The Jade clone chuckled and looked over at Helen. "The living are so frivolous, don't you think?"

"Yup. Think the only way to see is with their eyes. They forget about the heart. The heart and mind can see more than your eyes."

"That's a bunch of BS. All of this is! Just some wacky dream! We all got drunk and we're imagining things!" Ray argued, unable to keep silent any longer.

Helen glanced at Cass and sighed. "Your husband has lost his ability to believe…"

"You aren't real! Just a figmit of our imaginations! Tueri, angels, Belua, and the gods do **_not_** exist! They are just fairytales told by parents to their cubs to make them behave!" Ray hadn't even taught Jade about their culture. He hadn't spoken the names of the gods since the day they stole the love of his life away from him. Jade had learned about their culture from her brother and at school.

Cass frowned. Ray had changed so much over the years; fallen so far. He used to be such a believer… "Ray, honey, please… You know that's not true…"

"It is true. You aren't here, and this is just a dream. A bad one, at that."

"Just try to get rid of us, big guy," Helen growled.

The black she-bear sighed and shook her head. "There isn't time for this! We have to go rescue those cubs before they freeze to death!

Helen nodded and looked at Henry. "Are you strong enough to come with us?"

He sat up and placed a paw on hers. "I failed you and Beary nine years ago… I won't do that again."

She gave him a small smile. "You never let us down," she said softly as she helped him up. "Come on, papa bear. Let's go get our boy."

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

Jesse looked at the bite on his arm and frowned. "Great." There was no time to bandage it as the wolf lunged again. He had managed to get the wolf outside the shelter after it had bit him; the shelter was in shambles after the wolf's attack.

He knew he had to get back to Beary and Jewel, but if he didn't return to Caelo to be healed, he would die from the wolf bite. '_Focus!_' he ordered himself as he fought off the massive black and gray creature. Finally, he grabbed it by the neck. "Forgive me, but you are going to rest in peace with the spirits now," he said softly before twisting.

The sharp crack echoed throughout the trees like a gunshot.

Jesse slowly set the wolf down. It wouldn't be right to leave the body to freeze in the storm, so he waved his paw and a shovel appeared. He walked over to a small clearing and began digging. Little over an hour later, he was able to lower the body into the shallow grave and shove the dirt back over it. He said a small prayer to the wolf spirits to accept the poor creature.

He could feel the effects of the sickness taking control; feel his mind slipping. Since he was no longer a true mortal, the sickness would take hold fastr. If he didn't see a healer, he would die. And since his true mortal body was already dead, all he had left was his soul. The body he had now was simply his soul's physical form. If he died this time, he wouldn't come back. Simply cease to exist.

Yet, he couldn't leave to be healed. Beary and Jewel would freeze in his absence. His eyes widened. He had forgotten about the cubs! Swiftly, he willed the shovel away, and ran in the direction of the shelter. By the time he got there and peered in, he knew. He was too late.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

Dex growled in annoyance as he scratched his brown/black/blonde fur. Helen and Cass had turned the rest of the humans into bears—which robbed the two Tueri of a lot of energy—and Dex was positive one of them had given him _fleas_. He glanced over at his black-and-red furred girlfriend, who was giggling at him. He stuck his tongue out at her in vengeance, but that only made her laugh more.

Norbert looked at his thin brown fur in annoyance How had he ended up with thin fur? Was it because he was partially bald? Joy.

Allison patted his cheek and smiled. "You look andsome."

"Thanks, dear, and you look—"

"Mom, dad, please," Dex gagged.

Helen chuckled and shook her head. "Come on… we have… to go… now…' she said softly, panting.

Henry looked at her worriedly. "Honeydew? Are you all right?"

"Just a little tired… I'll be fine…"

"That's bull and you know it. You are staying here to rest!" he said forcefully.

"I will not! My little boy is out there, and I will go and…" She drifted off as she stumbled and leaned against him heavily. "G-gotta… save… my li-little… boy…"

Allison walked over and placed a paw on her shoulder. "I'll make sure _our_ little boy will come home safe and alive, and then you can hold him in your arms for as long as you want. I promise, I won't let you down."

The light brown she-bear looked up at the former human and managed a weak smile. "You… are an amazing… and wonderful… mother…"

"I do try."

Henry gently laid his beloved on the couch and covered her with a knitted blanket. As soon as he was sure she was resting, he looked at the others. "C'mon, let's get going.  
>It was killing him, leaving Helen here alone, but he knew this was what she wanted.<p>

They nodded and turned to leave—following Cass—when Cassandra collapsed. Jade rushed to her side while Ray hung back, still convinced it was all an illusion.

Jade helped her mother sit up, trembling slightly as she realized that she was _touching_ her mother, her paw resting upon her arm… something she had only dreamed about. "E-Easy, m-mom. What's wrong?"

Cass looked up at hr daughter wearily. "G-Guess that t-took m-more out of me th-than I th-thought it would… My bad…"

Jade shook her head and frowned as she led the black she-bear over to the armchair. "One of us should stay here with you…"

"No! You must find those cubs and you must go now! Tasha, James, Erin, and Jordan will stay. For emergencies..."

The Stones glanced at each other before nodding.

"We don't even know where to begin!"

"The Heart will guide you. Open your eyes and listen, but beware the shadows, for they they will stop at nothing to make you fail…" She closed her eyes and fell into darkness.

Jade blinked and looked at the others in confusion. What did her mother mean?

Ray shook his head in exasperation. "Damn foolish woman," he muttered.

"Dad, stop it! We need to go out and look! I don't give a damnif you think this isn't real, but I am going out to find my friends!"

Ray's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

The black she-bear looked at the others. "Now think. Where would they have gone?"

Ted thought for a minute before snapping his fingers. "The tree farm! Beary was clearly upset about what happened to the tree… He was probably trying to set things right and thought he could get us a new one!"

"That's a thought."

"Fastest way to get there on foot is through the forest," Zeb put in.

"But that forest is huge!" Fred argued. "Beary's never been allowed near there because he could easily get lost. Not to mention there are all sorts of wild animals in there. I think there's a wolf pack, too, but they've done us no harm and have kept inside the forest… Only way to the forest is to the gate in the six foot high fence surrounding the property… But Beary's never seen the gate… Has he?"

Zeb shrugged. "We haven't found him on the property, so it's possible he found the gate a long time ago and went through it. He most likely thought that we wouldn't think to look for him there…"

"And he was right… We never would have looked there…"

"Damn it all."

Jade shook her head. "What kind of supplies are we going to need? Grab two backpacks of some sort and put a first aid kit, some space blankets, water…" She continued giving them instructions as they scrambled around gathering the supplies—which took up three backpacks in total. "Good. Now, everyone got something warm on? Yes? Great. Let's go."

Ray shook his head and followed his daughter out.

"I should lead. I know the land better," Henry said, stepping forward. "Been through the forest, too. It's been a while, but I know the layout of it."

"You suck at tracking. I'll lead," Ray growled, blocking his way.

"Not much to track, Ray. Everything was covered by the snow!"

"It wouldn't have been if you hadn't caused them run away!"

Fred and Zeb glanced at each other, but didn't say anything. Ted shook his head. Allison, Norbert, Dex, and Roxi all frowned and sighed.

"Oh, cut it out. Just get going!" Jade snarled.

The two elder males glanced at each other, scowling, before following Jade out into the storm.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

They were much further into the forest than any of them wanted to be. Breyer Forest was over a hundred acres, and ended by river near Shelbyville. On the other side of Shelbyville, to the east, was Salza Forest. Breyer Forest contained a variety of wildlife, such as deer, wild hogs, numerous birds, and other big game. It was rumored that there were even Ferre, which were ancestors of bears. In a way, they were the animal forms, non-evolved. However, a Ferre hadn't been seen in decades, so it was said that they had gone extinct. If anyone had spotted one, they hadn't told anyone.

Other than that, the wind howling through the trees sounded like the shrieks of banshees. It was bone-chilling.

Ray and Henry had been bickering for the past fifteen minutes, though most of the others had tuned them out. As they topped the hill, they both looked around.

"We'll go this way!" they said, pointing in opposite directions.

"Uh-oh," Fred muttered, glancing at his brother as Jade began marching over to the two adults.

Henry scowled at Ray. "I've told you, I know the layout of this land better than you do!"

"And I'm telling you, if they were smart, they would have headed towards the thicker trees instead of being out in the open, which is where you want us going!"

"Damn it, Ray, I'm in charge!" Henry didn't want to admit that Ray was right about where the cubs would have gone.

"You're being foolish!"

"No, you are!"

Ray snarled at him and pushed him backwards, unaware that Jade was behind Henry.

Jade lost her footing and fell backwards, sliding quickly down the steep slope with a startled yelp.

Ray's eyes widened as he pushed Henry to the side and began sliding down the hill carefully. However, he was bowled over by a short black bear that quickly made his way down.

"TED!" Fred shouted. Zeb held his friend back, knowing that if Fred went down the hill, he wouldn't stop falling because of his weight.

Ted paid them no attention as he reached the bottom of the slope and grabbed an uprooted root, holding it tightly to stop himself from falling. Slowly, he stood. "Jade, take it easy," he said, looking at her.

Jade had slid from the snowy slope out onto the ice. As she lay there stunned, she could hear the sharp cracks as the thin ice began to break. "Oh, shit…" she murmured before letting out a yelp as she went under.

Ray let out a heartbroken shout as she began sliding down the hill again. "JADE!"

Ted, meanwhile, pulled off his coat and did what he could. He jumped through the ice and disappeared. Almost immediately, he was swept up by the swift current and taken far down the river. He opened his eyes and spotted the black shape of Jade. He twisted and turned until he was flat and facing her. He kicked frantically until he reached her and grabbed her arm. He knew he didn't have a lot of air left, but he had to share what he had. He pulled her close, tilted her head, and locked lips with her.

Jade's eyes widened and she let him in, wrapping her arms around his neck as she shared air with him, but she knew it was limited.

Ted held her close with one arm, and with the other began clawing at the ice. He couldn't allow her to die; not like this. He knew their air was running out. Frantically, Ted slammed his fist through the ice, cutting his paw in the process. He let go of Jade, knowing she was holding onto him, and began clawing at the ice, making the hole bigger despite the current's pull. Finally, the hole was big enough for him to push Jade upwards and let her breathe while he made the hole big enough to push her through, which he eventually did.

He hoisted her up onto the ice, which was much thicker, and then allowed himself to gasp for air as he surfaced, coughing and sputtering.

Jade stared at her savior in astonishment. **_Ted_** had saved her? Why would that egotistical jackass save _her_?! She watched as he struggled to climb out, but her violent shivering made it almost impossible to reach out to help him. Her eyes widened when she felt and heard the ice beneath her crack. '_Not again…_'

Ted must have realized his extra weight was too much for the ice to hold, and he looked at her before reaching out and cupping her cheek. He pulled himself out just enough to give her a gentle kiss. "G-g-g-goodbye, Ja-Ja-Jade… Th-though we've only just met, I k-know th-there w-was s-something… be-between us… And f-for… the s-sa-sake of th-that so-so-something, and my l-lo-love… y-you must l-live… T-ta-take ca-care… o-of my b-baby b-b-br-brother… a-and B-B-Beary… and J-J-Je-Jewel… an-and yo-yours-s-self… f-for… m-me…"

With one last look at her, he let go of the ice and was swept under.

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><p><strong>I was recently told after writing this chapter that this ice scene was just like it is in a book called "The Sight". I have never read this book, so I had no intention of this. Just to let you know.<strong>


	8. Part Seven

**Sorry for the really late upload. I've been distracted with school and working on KOTS and Bonds. I'm pleased to inform you that Book Two: Keeper of the Stars is finished, and I will be uploading the final chapters soon.**

**As for Book Three: Bonds, I will start publishing sometime in the summer. I have five+ chapters ready to go.**

**Thank you for reading, and please review!**

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><p><strong><span>Part Seven<span>**

"Wait… w-what? NO! T-TED!" she shouted, grabbing nothing but air. He was gone… and it was her fault… "N-no… c-co-come… b-back…"

She knew that his death was her fault. She had been foolish to have gotten Henry and her father's way, and now the blood of one of Beary and Jewel's heroes was on her paws… Not only that, but Ted… said he loved her? Yeah, right. Just a last bit of bravado… right…?

Shivering violently, she slowly dragged herself to the shore and curled up in the snow. He should have just let her drown. That would have been faster than laying here slowly freezing to death.

"M-Mom… D-Dad…" she whimpered, wanting help. She knew they would never hear her, but it gave her a little hope. She was so tired, but she fought to keep herself awake.

She wasn't ready to die. There was too much to do… too much…

"JADE!"

Hearing her father's voice brought relief to her, but she closed her eyes, having no strength to call back out to him.

"JADE!"

Why did he sound like he was getting further and further away?

She found herself slipping away and could no longer hold on.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

Ray gently carried his daughter up the slope after stripping her of her clothes and wrapping her in a space blanket.

Fred looked past Ray and Zeb—who had gone down to help since he was the next lightest of the bears—hoping to spot his brother, and let out a soft whimper when he didn't. "Where's Ted?"

Ray glanced at him. "I only found Jade. I'm sorry."

The massive grizzly blinked slowly. Ted had to be down there! Ray must have missed something! "You're lyin'! Ted's down there! He has to be!"

Zeb looked at his friend sadly and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Fred, Ted wasn't there…"

Fred snarled at him and batted his paw away. He turned, grabbed a backpack of supplies from Dex, and began marching down the way, determined to find his brother.

The auburn fiddler frowned and looked at the others. "I'll go with him." He hurried off after the rhythm bear.

Dex and Roxi looked at Jade and Ray. "We'll take her to the hospital," Roxi suggested.

Ray growled at them and looked down at his daughter worriedly.

"Listen, dude, you, Henry, Mom, and Dad need to find Beary and Jewel. Roxi and I will be faster, anyway." Dex held out his arms, ready to accept Jade.

Ray frowned and looked at his daughter before kissing her forehead. Gently, he passed her over. "Take care of her… or else."

"Of course. Tasha and James will be there, too. We'll be fine." With Roxanne's help, Dex carried Jade away.

Ray watched the trio disappear through the trees before turning and snarling at Henry. "This is your fault!" He raised his fist threateningly.

Henry didn't want to meet his gaze and looked away. He knew it was his fault. Jade might die, and Ted was most likely already dead. He felt horrible, yes, but didn't want to admit it. He simply turned around and began walking back up the hill.

Ray's eyes narrowed and he stalked towards him.

"Boys! Enough! There isn't time for this!" Allison growled, stepping between them. "Yes, losing Ted and possibly Jade is terrible, but they gave their lives to find Beary and Jewel! Don't use their sacrifices as an excuse for a slug fest!"

"Ally," Norbert began, not liking the position she was in.

"No, Norbert. If they get into a fight, then they are wasting valuable time!"

"She's right," Henry said softly. "Beary and Jewel will not last much longer. Ray… you lead…"

The elder grizzly growled at him before taking the lead.

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

"Come on, wake up, you two." Jesse began patching up the holes in the shelter. He couldn't make a fire since the wood had gotten all wet when the roof had partially caved in. Jesse couldn't believe he had left them behind without a shelter. How had he been so foolish?

Jesse climbed back into the shelter and lifted Beary away from Jewel… well, attempted to. It appeared that the perspiration that had formed between their bodies had frozen them together. Great.

The grizzly stumbled slightly and moved away from the cubs moments before retching. Flu-like symptoms. Joy. It was progressing faster than he thought it would.

He didn't know what he was going to do. How was he going to keep both of them warm? Without a fire, their chances of survival were severely limited. Poor kids weren't going to last much longer.

He heard voices from outside the shelter and blinked in confusion. Who was that? That wasn't the search party, he knew that much…

"Tennessee, why didn't we just fly to Nashville like planned? Why'd you have me land in Shelbyville?"

"Because, Trix, the airports were closed in Nashville because of the storm. At least we landed somewhere near Pendleton."

"Yes, but now we have to travel through this dang forest to get home! We could have just followed the highway…"

"No shelter from the harsh winds. In here, we have a windbreak of sorts."

"I know, I know… but do you even know where we are?"

Jesse smirked. Perfect time to pop out of the shelter and scare the crap out of them. Which is just what he did. "You have arrived at our shelter."

Tennessee let out a shriek and jumped into Trixie's arms, and Trixie… simply dropped him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Jesse Falco, ma'am. Why don't you come in. I need help keeping these two warm."

"Listen, buddy, if you're talking about your girlfriends or something…" Tennessee began, but was cut off when Trixie smacked his arm. "Ow! Hey…"

"Actually, it's two cubs. Both of whom you know. Your daughter and her best friend."

Tennessee and Trixie, both wearing thick blue overcoats and carrying their suitcases, blinked and glanced at each other. "What are you talking about? Jewel's at the Hall safe and sound…"

"No, actually, she's freezing to death in here and I can't take care of them very well anymore. They need to get home, but I can't take them both."

"What…?" Trixie frowned and approached the shelter, leaving her suitcase by her husband. She eyed Jesse warily before slipping into the damaged dome of the "cave". It was only moments later before she let out a startled cry. "Tennessee! He's telling the truth! The cubs are in here!"

Tennessee dropped his suitcase and slugged Jesse hard across the jaw. "What the hell is it with you people and kidnapping cubs?!"

Jesse's eyes narrowed. "Listen, bub, I didn't kidnap them. I found them out here!" he growled, rubbing his jaw lightly. Damn, that had hurt! "They ran away, and almost froze to death!"

"Tennessee, leave him alone and come and help me! They're frozen together!"

The grizzly roughly shoved Jesse aside and slid into the shelter. As angry as he was before, the moment he saw that his daughter and her _boyfriend_ were frozen _**naked**_ together, he lost it. Spinning around, he climbed out of the shelter and attacked the taller bear again.

Jesse, however, simply growled. If he got into a fight, he might not be able to control himself. "If you attack me, I will bring the powers of Caelo down upon you!" he snarled, backing up.

"Yeah right! What the hell is your problem?! How could you do that to them?! Did you have some kind of need to watch something like that?!" Tennessee continued to advance, claws at the ready to fight.

"They had been traveling in the snow. Their clothes got all wet! There was no point in them catching hypothermia! Plus, this way, they could easily share body heat! The fire didn't help much!"

"Then where's this fire, huh?!"

"It went out after the frickin rabid wolf attacked me! I did what I had to do to keep it away from them, but in the process, the shelter was destroyed and the snow took out the flames! It was not my fault!" Feelings of anxiety began to fill his mind. He was shaking as he realized that this bear could—and probably would—kill him, judging by the look in his eyes. His heartbeat rose dramatically and he let out a soft whimper. His muscles began to ache, his stomach churned, and it felt like part of his body was going numb. An anxiety attack. His sickness was getting worse with each moment. He couldn't focus enough to turn back into Tueri form to return to Caelo to be healed. He was going to die.

Tennessee watched in confusion as foam began forming at the other bear's mouth, and he backed away. The other male had mentioned a rabid wolf… but… if he had been bit, why were things progressing so fast? He didn't understand. There was no way he was going near him now, and he had to get Beary and Jewel out of there. "T-Trix, I'll get the blankets and some clothes from our bags… you… bring those cubs up here… We have to go now." Keeping an eye on the sickly bear, he knelt down and slowly opened their bags, pulling out two blankets. They would have to somehow pry the two cubs apart and dress them.

"Tenny, I can't get them both out of here by myself!"

Tennessee sighed and shoved the blankets back into the bags before entering the shelter again, putting the suitcases at the entrance. He then carefully helped his wife pull the youngsters apart and handed her a robe for Jewel while he dressed Beary in a vest, since he didn't exactly have any pants for him to wear. He then passed a blanket over for Jewel, and wrapped Beary up in the extra one. "Good thing our suitcases have straps," he muttered as he grabbed Beary's backpack out of the snow and put it in his bag before helping Trixie carry Jewel out of the shelter and put on her bag. He then followed her, strapping on his own bag while he adjusted the grip on the cub in his arms.

He looked around nervously. Where was the other bear…? He shrugged and looked at the cubs. "I can't believe they were stupid enough to come out here…"

"What's done is done, Tenny… Come on, let's get them home."

He nodded and started walking through the snowfall.

.~*_The Country Bears*~._

"TED!" Fred shouted as he trudged through the knee-deep snow. "TED!"

"Teeeedddd!" Zeb called, glancing around. They had been walking through the snow for almost half an hour now, and no sign of Ted. He had a feeling that the lead singer had not made it. He hated this feeling, but could not shake it! So once more, he called out Ted's name and waited for a response.

A soft groan floated along the wind. Zeb paused and looked around for a moment, eyes falling upon a still, dark figure at the bottom of the hill near the river. He nudged Fred and gestured towards the figure.

The massive bear dashed down the hill, with the thinner bear following, and approached the dark mound. "T-Ted? Br-brother, is that you?"

Zeb knelt down and brushed some snow off the mass and his eyes widened in surprise. "Fred, get the blanket! It's him!" He had no idea how Ted managed to do it, but now as he glanced down at the water, he could see the hole and hear the gurgling of water.

Fred did as asked and wrapped the blanket around his brother carefully once the fiddler had finished brushing him off. "You think he's goin' to be all right?"

"I hope so, big guy… C'mon. Let's get him home."

.~*_The Country Bears_*~.

"If you two bicker over one more thing, I swear I will take the pair of you over my knee!" Allison snarled, glaring at the two grizzlies who were _still_ arguing over which way to go. There had been a few minutes of blessed silence, but then they had restarted.

It was getting on the Barrington mother's nerves.

"You are acting like children, and you are both over the age of fifty! Even Beary and Jewel don't act like this!"

"Yes, ma'am," the two troublemakers muttered, looking at the ground.

"Now are you going to act your age or will I have to lead this search?"

"No, ma'am. We're fine."

"Good. Now get to it!"

Norbert couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, Ally. Let's not put the fear of God in them."

"Or any of their gods," she smiled. She may have been a Catholic, but she was more accepting of their cultural differences. After all, the only difference was that their gods combined technically made up one all-powerful god, just like the one in her religion. Their gods were basically a split up version of, well, God.

He nodded and kissed her auburn cheek. "C'mon, mamabear. Let's go find our cub."

Henry and Ray glanced at each other for a moment before starting to walk again.

"We're too far into the forest. They would've never made it this far… Not in this storm," Henry growled.

"Fine. We'll go back to the edge. Then we'll start all over again," Ray replied, turning around.

Henry sighed and nodded. "C'mon. Let's follow our tra-" His eyes widened. Their tracks had been snowed over… And he didn't recognize this part of the forest very well, having never made it this far out here before. "Crap…"

"Where are we? Henry, you said you knew this forest!"

"Not all of it!"

"Gah! You moron! We're lost?!"

"Uh… yes. But I'm sure if we just follow the river… It'll split off to a creek that goes by the Hall."

"Henry…"

"What? Come on, that's all we can do at this point… You know that, I know that. Everyone knows that."

Ray growled at him and sighed. "Fine. Let's get going. Which way to the river?"

"Uh… That way?" he asked unsurely.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Boys, boys, smell the air. Use your ears. Listen and smell for water," Norbert sighed.

The two grizzles looked ashamed for a moment before doing as told. As one, they pointed to the left. "That way."

"Good. Now, work together and lead the way, you scoundrels," Allison laughed.

The scowled slightly before starting to walk.

After a few moments of silence, Ray glanced at the Barringtons for a moment before looking at Henry. "Care to enlighten me about why your son was raised by them and not by you?"

Henry froze. "I… Well…"

"Walk and talk, Henry. Walk and talk."

He nodded and began to walk once more. "Remember when Cass died? You were a mess… could barely take care of yourself, let alone your son and newborn daughter… Helen and I had to help you for almost a year…"

Ray frowned and gave a curt nod. "Go on…"

"Well, when I lost Helen… I lost myself… I felt like I was dying inside… I was so miserable… I took to the drink… got angry… at her, at myself… but mostly at her killer…"

"Whoa, wait a minute. Killer?"

"Helen… my Helen… was murdered," Henry replied softly, "by someone I once considered a friend… I should have been there… to protect her… but I was stupid… I thought if I played dumb and say I didn't know where she was, he wouldn't find her… For three years, it worked… I… I was considering bringing her home… back to the Hall… where we could raise our son in peace… But it was all for naught. The day I was going to tell her, is the day the cops showed up on my doorstep… telling me that… that…" Tears rolled down his cheeks in torrents as he leaned against a tree for support. "They told me she was dead… and that Beary was with another family…"

Ray stayed silent, placing a paw on his shoulder. He didn't know what to say.

"I… I told them… that I didn't want to see him… that I wanted him to remain where he was… I… I thought he would be safer there… happier… I wasn't in any condition to care for him… I… I don't know why I did it… but… he grew up safe… I never imagined… that he would come back to the Hall…two years ago… trying to find out whom he really was. I wanted him to leave… to go back to where he came from, but… it was too late… I found myself wanting to be close to him again… to hold him in my arms… but I knew he'd never understand. Had I been smart, I would have never let him go…"

"Don't be putting yourself down, Henry. What's done is done. Beary did grow up happy, and we raised him as a bear cub should be raised," Norbert spoke up. "We gave him books to read about your culture. We helped him with his totems… We taught him about your gods, even though we do not believe in them. He met Jewel and made friends… We thought he was happy, until the night he asked if he was adopted. We had never said anything to him before… didn't want him feeling awkward…"

"We lied to him, telling him he wasn't. We knew we shouldn't have, but… We loved him so much, and we still do. We were going to tell him when he was older! We didn't expect him to ask so soon…" Allison whispered.

"Surely he realized he was not like you before then!" Ray growled.

"He may have, but we may never know. Dex told him a lot that he was different… We believe that Dex was jealous, and he had every right to be. We spent most of our time being with our adopted son instead of our real one. I can't say we felt dreadful about it then, but we do now."

"The thing is… There was a day when we were looking through Beary's _Country Bear_ items, and we came across a picture… of the manager and his wife… Right then and there, we knew, just from looking at the photo, whom his real parents were… We just didn't know how to tell him… So we looked up information on you, and when we found out that you had been arrested for public intoxication, we decided not to say anything. We thought that you were dangerous… unfit to be a parent. So we said nothing and tore the picture out of the book. We searched through the rest of his stuff, but found no other photos of you and Helen."

Henry's eyes widened. "You… You knew? This entire time? And didn't say anything?!" He could feel the anger in him begin to swell up. He was _furious_.

"Now, now, Henry. What they did was not so different from what you did. You did it to protect him, and so did they," Ray growled, quickly intervening. "You all did it for his safety. I'm not saying it was a good thing, but in the end, it worked out all right."

The elder Taylor frowned and growled before stalking away. He would not forget this so easily. He had always thought that the Barringtons were good, decent, honest people, but now… no. Not anymore. "Hurry up."

Ray rolled his eyes and followed him. Allison looked at her husband and whimpered. "We screwed up big time…"

"It all worked out in the end. Hurry up. Let's get going. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get cold."

_.~*The Country Bears*~._

Helen looked at Cassandra and frowned. "So now the truth is out," she said softly. She and Cass had taken spirit forms and followed Ray, Henry, Allison, and Norbert around.

"I suppose it is… But it really shouldn't matter. It was meant to come out in the open sooner or later."

"I guess you're right… Shall we go check on our cubs?"

"Mhm."

They quickly sped through the trees, coming to a halt only when they found Trixie and Tennessee with the cubs. Where was Jesse?

Cassandra frowned. "He left for Caelo… something happened… I can feel it. I just hope he will be back soon…"

Helen nodded. "Shall we have a bit of fun?"

"Of course!"

"All right. You go back to the others and lead them here. I'll handle these two."

Cass nodded and sped off.

Helen smiled and took mortal form once more, silently walking through the snow behind the newlyweds. "Howdy, guys," she giggled.

The duo let out startled cries and spun around. "W-Wh-Wha… H-Helen?" Trixie blinked.

"Yes, tis I. Yes, I am dead. Yes, I am a Tueri. Yes, I'm in mortal form. Does that answer your questions?"

Tennessee glanced at Trixie, who looked back. What was going on? Were they seeing things?

Trixie frowned slightly. "H-Helen… I… Don't understand…"

"It's not for you to understand at this time." She looked at the cubs with gentle eyes before stepping forward and placing a paw on Beary's cheek. "My little one… you've grown so much…" she whispered softly. Helen glanced up at the duo. "Come on. Follow me. I will guide you through this forest."

They nodded slowly. "All right, then. Let's get goin'," Tennessee replied. He still looked at Helen warily as she led the way through the trees.


End file.
